A TEM study on lithium zinc ferrite thin films and the microstructure correlation with the magnetic properties

Correlation of grain boundary nature with magnetization in RF-sputtered lithium–zinc ferrite thin films

“…Hence, it is reasonable to anticipate that any significant alteration in the grain boundary structure in nanocrystalline magnetic thin films might change the d M values remarkably. The presence of LAGBs in Li-Zn ferrite films (Li 0.5Àx/2 Zn x Mn 0.1 Fe 2.35Àx/2 O 4 , with x ¼ 0.32) has been confirmed earlier by converging beam electron diffraction study in our laboratory [34]. Our present study shows significant differences in low-angle boundary concentrations with varying x, as given in Table 2.…”

“…Dash also observed similar trend of H C as a function of x in 750 1C annealed Li-Zn ferrite films deposited on Si(111), Si(1 0 0) and fused quartz substrates [14]. Since our films were pre-annealed at 650 and 750 1C prior to final annealing at relatively higher temperature of 850 1C, the grain sizes of our films are larger (Table 2) than those observed in Dash's films [34]. The H C value of our film with no zinc is comparable to those obtained by Dash.…”

“…Low-angle grain boundaries may be resolved by TEM as it is a sensitive tool to probe the volume [34]. To determine the grain-size data of the films, brightfield TEM images were recorded and shown in Fig.…”

Magnetic properties of magnetite thin films close to the Verwey transition

“…It is also linked to the grain size in the sense that films with larger grain size, saturate comparatively easily. It is, therefore, believed that the grain boundary volume could also play a role in leading to non-saturation [21].…”

The influence of substrate temperature and annealing on the properties of pulsed laser-deposited YIG films on fused quartz substrate

“…The absence of sharp peaks in the as-deposited ferrite films without any substrate heating is quite common, and is related to the nanocrystalline nature of the sample. These films when examined by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) normally show clear rings with a very small grain size [12,13]. To increase the grain size to a level where XRD peaks could be observed, the films have to be subjected to a thermal treatment.…”