Abstract
Ultrathin magnetic materials with room-temperature ferromagnetism/ferrimagnetism hold great potential in spintronic applications. In this work, we report the successful controllable growth of Fe3O4 thin films using a facile chemical vapor deposition method. Room-temperature ferrimagnetism was maintained in the as-grown Fe3O4 thin films down to 4 nm. Raman spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis were conducted to reveal the structure and quality of the Fe3O4 film. Magnetization measurement showed ferrimagnetic hysteresis loops in all Fe3O4 thin films. A saturation magnetization of 752 emu/cm3 was observed for the 4 nm Fe3O4 film, which was higher than that of bulk Fe3O4 materials (480 emu/cm3). Additionally, the Verwey transition at ~120 K was visible for the Fe3O4 thin films. This work provides an alternative method of synthesizing ferrimagnetic ultrathin films for electronic, spintronic, and memory device applications.
Funder
Strategic Priority Research Program of CAS
Subject
Inorganic Chemistry,Condensed Matter Physics,General Materials Science,General Chemical Engineering