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

  • Original Paper: Characterization methods of sol-gel and hybrid materials
  • Published:
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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 × 1016 ions/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 × 1016 ions/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.

Highlights

  • 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 × 1016 ions/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 × 1016 ions/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.

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Data availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

The authors express their special thanks to Aradhana Kumari, Sanjukta Jena, Priya Kumari, and Mritunjay Kumar for their technical support in analysis. The authors also thanks Raj Kumar, engineer at IUAC for his support in the ion-implantation experiments. VRS also acknowledges UGC-BSR Start-up Research Grant (F.30-395/2017(BSR)), SERB-DST (ECR/2017/000278). The experiment at KEK-PF, Japan was performed at the beamline BL16A (Proposal No. 2019G013). VRS expresses his gratitude to the Department of Science and Technology, India (SR/NM/Z-07/2015) for the financial support and JNCASR for managing the project.

Author contributions

RD: investigation, and formal analysis, writing—original draft, review, and editing. MZ: investigation and formal analysis, writing—original draft, review, and editing. RRB: investigation and validation. CK: investigation, formal analysis, and validation. RS: investigation, formal analysis, and validation. VKV: investigation, formal analysis, and validation. SKS: investigation, formal analysis, and validation. KA: investigation, formal analysis, and validation. VRS: conceptualization, formal analysis, review and editing, supervision, and funding acquisition.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, Central University of South Bihar, Gaya, India

    R. Dawn, M. Zzaman, R. R. Bharadwaj & V. R. Singh

  2. Department of Physics, Jamia Millia Islamia (Central University), New Delhi, India

    M. Zzaman & R. Shahid

  3. Department of Animal Sciences, Central University of Kashmir, Ganderbal, India

    C. Kiran

  4. Department of Physics, Madanapalle Institute of Technology & Science, Madanapalle, India

    V. K. Verma

  5. Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Rourkela, India

    S. K. Sahoo

  6. Photon Factory, IMSS, High Energy Accelerator Research Organization, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan

    K. Amemiya

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  1. R. Dawn
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These authors contributed equally: R. Dawn and M. Zzaman

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Dawn, R., Zzaman, M., Bharadwaj, R.R. et al. Direct evidence to control the magnetization in Fe3O4 thin films by N2 ion implantation: a soft X-ray magnetic circular dichroism study. J Sol-Gel Sci Technol 99, 461–468 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10971-021-05606-x

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