| NUKLEONIKA 2013, 58(1):27-30
MOSSBAUER STUDY OF VACUUM ANNEALED
Fe100-xGax (10 =< x =< 35) THIN FILMS
Tadeusz Szumiata1, Bogumił Górka1, Katarzyna Brzózka1, Michał Gawroński1, Małgorzata Gzik-Szumiata1, Athar Javed2, Nicola A. Morley3, Mike R. J. Gibbs3
1 Technical University of Radom, Department of Physics,
54 Krasickiego Str., 26-600 Radom, Poland
2 University of the Punjab, Department of Physics,
Quaid-i-Azam Campus, Lahore-54590-Pakistan
3 University of Sheffield, Department of Materials Science & Engineering,
Sheffield S1 3JD, UK
This work reports results from comparative Mössbauer studies of as-deposited and annealed Fe100–xGax (10 =< x =< 35) high magnetostrictive thin films of constant thickness (50 +/- 2 nm). Films were grown on Si(100) substrates using a co-sputtering and evaporation chamber where Fe has been sputtered and Ga was evaporated. During growth of films, a magnetic field of 65 kA/m has been applied in the plane of the film. Annealed films have been obtained by heating in vacuum for 1 h at 350°C without magnetic field. After annealing, the saturation field of the Fe-Ga films has been significantly reduced. By means of the 57Fe CEMS technique the contributions from several phases have been found: Fe-Ga A2 (bcc), traces of DO3 phase, a gallium-rich disordered phase and iron oxides (both geothite and magnetite). For the sample with x = 26.5 the heat treatment reduces the DO3 phase content whereas for the film with x = 16.4 the opposite tendency has been observed. Mössbauer results were compared with XRD and MOKE findings.
Close X |