Fabrication of ultrathin Ni-Zn ferrite films using electron cyclotron resonance sputtering method

Well-crystallized Ni-Zn ferrite (Ni0.4Zn0.6Fe2O4) highly oriented ultrathin films were obtained at a substrate temperature of 200 degrees C by a reactive sputtering method utilizing electron cyclotron resonance microwave plasma, which is very effective to crystallize oxide or nitride materials without heat treatment. Thin films of Ni-Zn ferrite deposited on a MgO (100) underlayer showed an intense X-ray-diffraction peak of (400) from the Ni-Zn ferrite as compared to similar films deposited directly onto thermally oxidized Si substrates. A 1.5-nm-thick Ni-Zn ferrite film, which corresponds to twice the lattice constant for bulk Ni-Zn ferrite, crystallized on a MgO (100) underlayer. (C) 2006 American Institute of Physics.