Influence of in-situ annealing temperature upon structural, micro-structural, magnetic damping properties in sputtered Fe3O4 thin films

The influence of in-situ annealing temperature upon structural, micro-structural, magnetic properties and Gilbert damping parameters of sputtered Fe3O4 thin films (29-49 nm) upon SiO2/Si substrates have been systematically investigated. The oriented Fe3O4 structural phase was evaluated using grazing incidence X-ray diffraction, confocal Raman spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy data. The atomic force and field-emission scanning electron microscope surface microstructural images reveal an enhanced grain growth with dominant anti-phase boundaries (APB) with in-situ annealing. The macroscopic spin dynamical response is evaluated using co-planar waveguide ferromagnetic resonance (CPW-FMR) spectroscopy from 15 to 35 GHz frequencies. The FMR data reveals a low Gilbert damping (& alpha;) ranging from 0.003 & PLUSMN; 0.001 to 0.009 & PLUSMN; 0.006 for all the in-situ annealed Fe3O4 thin films. Further, high inhomogeneity (AH0) parameter is correlated to the surface defects and APBs.

Automated summary

The influence of in-situ annealing temperature on the structural, microstructural, magnetic properties, and Gilbert damping parameters of sputtered Fe3O4 thin films was systematically investigated. The evaluation of the structural phase was done using X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The surface microstructural images revealed enhanced grain growth with dominant anti-phase boundaries (APB) after in-situ annealing. The ferromagnetic resonance spectroscopy showed a low Gilbert damping value for all the in-situ annealed Fe3O4 thin films, with the high inhomogeneity parameter correlated to surface defects and APBs.