Thin ferrite films deposited by PLD on silicon substrate

NiFe2O4, NiZnFe2O4, ZnFe2O4 and BaFe12O19 ferrite crystalline and amorphous films were grown on silicon. The energy of the laser beam, the O2 pressure, the substrate temperature, and the distance between the target and the substrate were varied in order to establish the optimal deposition conditions. The microstructures of the thin films were characterized by XRD, SEM, EDAX, SIMS and AFM analysis. The XRD patterns of the thin films as deposited feature small peaks corresponding to the spinel phase. By annealing, the peaks become evident and show the high crystallinity of the samples. The results of SIMS and EDAX analysis prove the high stoichiometry of thin films obtained by PLD technique. Great deposition rate was registered for small distance target - substrate, but in this case the films hasn't homogeneity and many aggregates were observed in the thin film surface. Increasing the target - substrate distance the deposition rate becomes lower but the homogeneity is good and rarely aggregates were observed on the thin film surface. The results suggest that the crystallized ferrite films fabricated in our study are a mixture of amorphous phase and crystallites with the spinel structure. Annealing for fully crystallization may achieve a further improvement in microstructure and XRD patterns.