The evolution of sputtered iron nitride thin films under thermal treatment

The thermal evolution of reactively sputtered iron nitride thin films has been investigated by xray diffraction, Mössbauer conversion electron spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and magnetic measurementsT. he results show that, independentlyo f the original nitrogen content of the films, a similar composition of the end products after the 500 °C annealings is reached, being all composed of α-Fe plus y-Fe4 N in a wide range of relative proportions. The magnetic characteristics, however, are different depending on the nitrogen content of the as-depositedf ilms