N site ordering effect on partially ordered Fe16N2

Partially ordered Fe16N2 thin films have been fabricated on Fe (001)-buffered GaAs (001) single-crystal substrates by a facing target sputtering process. The saturation magnetization has been systematically investigated as a function of N site ordering in partially ordered Fe16N2 thin films, which is found to be increased monotonically with the increase in the N site ordering parameter, reaching up to 2.68 T at high ordering case. A model discussion is provided based on the partial localization of 3d electron states in this material system, which successfully rationalizes the formation of the giant saturation magnetization in chemically ordered Fe16N2. We further demonstrate that the average magnetic moment of partially ordered Fe16N2 sensitively depends on the special arrangement of Fe6N clusters, which is the key to realize high magnetic moment in this material system. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3560051]