Heteroepitaxial growth of alpha-Fe2O3 thin films on (111)GGG

Thin films of alpha-Fe2O3 have been prepared on gadolinium gallium garnet (GGG) (111) substrates by rf sputtering and subsequent heat treatment. The films deposited below 180 degrees C and annealed at 900 degrees C were found to exhibit a strong [0006] texture perpendicular to the film plane. X-ray pole figure analysis showed that a nearly single-crystalline film of (0001) alpha-Fe2O3 was grown on (111) GGG with an in-plane alignment of alpha-Fe2O3 [2<(11)over bar>0] parallel to GGG [1 (1) over bar 0]. Thus, the alpha-Fe2O3 films with the corundum crystal structure may be a promising buffer layer for achieving heteroepitaxy of various ferrite thin films onto a common substrate of GGG.