Researchers from the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, including Rohit Kumar Meena, Akhil Tayal, Andrei Gloskovskii, and Mukul Gupta, have been exploring ways to enhance the growth conditions of a promising material for spintronic and magnetic storage devices. Their work, published in the Journal of Applied Physics, focuses on extending the growth temperature and nitrogen concentration regime for Fe4N thin films through palladium (Pd) doping.
Fe4N is an anti-perovskite compound known for its high magnetization, chemical stability, low coercivity, high Curie temperature, and high spin-polarization ratio. These properties make it a strong candidate for applications in spintronic devices and magnetic storage. However, the Fe4N phase is typically formed within a narrow range of substrate temperatures and nitrogen concentrations. Deviations from this range can lead to impurities or the formation of other phases, such as alpha-Fe or epsilon-Fe3N.
The researchers demonstrated that doping Fe4N with Pd can extend the temperature and nitrogen concentration regime for growing Fe4N thin films. Extended X-ray Absorption Fine Structure (EXAFS) analysis revealed that Pd atoms substitute corner iron (Fe) atoms in the crystal structure. Magnetization measurements showed that the saturation magnetization decreases slightly with Pd doping up to 13 atomic percent. However, the overall structural, electronic, and magnetic properties of Fe4N remain largely unaffected.
This finding is significant for the energy industry, particularly in the development of advanced magnetic storage devices and spintronic applications. Spintronics, which exploits the spin of electrons rather than their charge, offers potential advantages in terms of energy efficiency and data processing speed. By extending the growth regime of Fe4N through Pd doping, researchers can facilitate the production of high-quality thin films for these applications, potentially leading to more efficient and reliable energy storage and data processing technologies.
The research was published in the Journal of Applied Physics, a publication of the American Institute of Physics.
This article is based on research available at arXiv.