%0 Journal Article
%T Study of magnetic iron nitride thin films deposited by high power impulse magnetron sputtering
%A Akhil Tayal
%A Mukul Gupta
%A Ajay Gupta
%A V. Ganesan
%A Layanta Behera
%A Surendra Singh
%A Saibal Basu
%J Physics
%D 2014
%I arXiv
%X In this work, we studied phase formation, structural and magnetic properties of iron-nitride (Fe-N) thin films deposited using high power impulse magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS) and direct current magnetron sputtering (dc-MS). The nitrogen partial pressure during deposition was systematically varied both in HiPIMS and dc-MS. Resulting Fe-N films were characterized for their microstructure, magnetic properties and nitrogen concentration. We found that HiPIMS deposited Fe-N films show a globular nanocrystalline microstructure and improved soft magnetic properties. In addition, it was found that the nitrogen reactivity impedes in HiPIMS as compared to dc-MS. Obtained results can be understood in terms of distinct plasma properties of HiPIMS.
%U http://arxiv.org/abs/1411.1614v2