Direct evidence to control the magnetization in Fe3O4 thin films by N2 ion implantation: a soft X-ray magnetic circular dichroism study

Abstract

Fe3O4 thin films on Si (100) substrate were prepared by chemical solution deposition (CSD) technique. In the present work, we have investigated the control of magnetization of Fe3O4 thin films by N2 ion implantation. The dosage of N2 ion implantation in Fe3O4 thin films varies from 0 to 3\u2009×\u20091016\u2009ions/cm2. The magnetization decreased as a function of dosage concentration that changed the electronic and magnetic properties of the thin films. Advanced characterization techniques, such as X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) X-ray magnetic circular Dichroism (XMCD), were used for the first time to estimate the electronic and magnetic properties of the thin films in surface-sensitive total electron-yield mode. The temperature-dependent XMCD measurement suggests that with an increase in the dosage of N2 from 0 to 3\u2009×\u20091016\u2009ions/cm2, Fe3O4 transitioned from a high-magnetization phase to a low magnetization phase. The observation was further supported by vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) measurements, which pointed toward the same magnetic-phase transition in the films. Fe3O4 thin films on Si (100) substrate were prepared by chemical solution deposition (CSD) technique. The control of magnetization of Fe3O4 thin films by N2 ion implantation. The dosage of N2 ion implantation in Fe3O4 thin films varies from 0 to 3\u2009×\u20091016\u2009ions/cm2. The magnetization decreased as a function of dosage concentration that changed the electronic and magnetic properties of the thin films. The temperature-dependent XMCD measurement suggests that with an increase in dosage of N2 from 0 to 3\u2009×\u20091016\u2009ions/cm2, Fe3O4 transitioned from a high-magnetization phase to low-magnetization phase. The observation was further supported by vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) measurements, which pointed toward the same magnetic-phase transition in the films. Fe3O4 thin films on Si (100) substrate were prepared by chemical solution deposition (CSD) technique. The control of magnetization of Fe3O4 thin films by N2 ion implantation. The dosage of N2 ion implantation in Fe3O4 thin films varies from 0 to 3\u2009×\u20091016\u2009ions/cm2. The magnetization decreased as a function of dosage concentration that changed the electronic and magnetic properties of the thin films. The temperature-dependent XMCD measurement suggests that with an increase in dosage of N2 from 0 to 3\u2009×\u20091016\u2009ions/cm2, Fe3O4 transitioned from a high-magnetization phase to low-magnetization phase. The observation was further supported by vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) measurements, which pointed toward the same magnetic-phase transition in the films.