Abstract
Excellent soft magnetic and high frequency properties were obtained successfully in the (Ni75Fe25) x (ZnO)1−x granular films fabricated on the glass substrate by RF magnetron oblique sputtering. The microstructure, magnetic and high frequency properties were investigated systematically. High resolution transmission electron micrographs show that the film consists of fcc Ni75Fe25 particles uniformly embedded in an amorphous insulating matrix ZnO with particle size a few nanometers. The (Ni75Fe25) x (ZnO)1−x films exhibit excellent soft magnetic properties in a wide x range from 0.50 to 0.80 with coercivity not exceeding 5 × 10−4 T, which is ascribed to the exchange coupling between magnetic particles. Especially for the sample with x = 0.64, coercivities in hard and easy axes are 5.0 × 10−5 and 3.6 × 10−4 T, respectively, and the electric resistivity ρ reaches 1,790 μΩ·cm. The dependence of complex permeability u = u′ − ju″ on frequency f shows that the real part u′ is more than 130 below 500 MHz, and the ferromagnetic resonance frequency f r reaches 1.32 GHz, implying the promising for high frequency application.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Morikawa T, Suzuki M, Taga Y. Soft magnetic properties of Co–Cr–O granular films. J Appl Phys. 1998;83(11):6664.
Shu S, Wei L, Minghua L, Guanghua Yu. Investigation on interface of NiFeCr/NiFe/Ta films with high magnetic field sensitivity. Rare Met. 2012;31(1):22.
Xu H, Yue M, Zhao C, Zhang D, Zhang J. Structure and magnetic properties of Mn1.2Fe0.8P0.76Ge0.24 annealed alloy. Rare Met. 2012;31(4):336.
Ohnuma S, Fujimori H, Mitani S, Masumoto T. High frequency magnetic properties in metal–nonmetal granular films (invited). J Appl Phys. 1996;79(8):5130.
Yao D, Ge S, Zhang B, Zuo H, Zhou X. Fabrication and magnetism of Fe65Co35–MgF2 granular films for high frequency application. J Appl Phys. 2008;103(11):113901.
Ge S, Yao D, Yamaguchi M, Yang X, Zuo H, Ishii T, Zhou D, Li F. Microstructure and magnetism of FeCo–SiO2 nano-granular films for high frequency application. J Phys D. 2007;40(12):3660.
Aoqui S-I, Munakata M. Uniaxial anisotropy field and crystalline structures of (CoFe)–(SiO2) magnetic thin film for operating in the GHz frequency. Mater Sci Eng, A. 2005;413:550.
Wang W, Chen Y, Yue GH, Mi WB, Bai HL, Sumiyama K, Peng DL. Dependence of soft-magnetic properties on film thickness and high frequency characteristics for Fe–Co–Cr–N alloy films. J Alloy Compd. 2009;476(1–2):599.
Wang W, Yue GH, Chen Y, Mi WB, Bai HL, Peng DL. Structural, electrical and magnetic properties of Fe–Co–Cr and Fe–Co–Cr–N nanocrystalline alloy films. J Alloy Compd. 2009;475(1–2):440.
Fan X, Xue D, Lin M, Zhang Z, Guo D, Jiang C, Wei J. In situ fabrication of Co90Nb10 soft magnetic thin films with adjustable resonance frequency from 1.3 to 4.9 GHz. Appl Phys Lett. 2008;92(22):222505.
Chai G, Xue D, Fan X, Li X, Guo D. Extending the Snoek’s limit of single layer film in (Co96Zr4/Cu) n multilayers. Appl Phys Lett. 2008;93(15):152516.
Ohnuma S, Ohnuma M, Fujimori H, Masumoto T. Metal–insulator type nano-granular soft magnetic thin films investigations on mechanism and applications. J Magn Magn Mater. 2007;310(2):2503.
Yao D, Ge S, Zhou X, Zuo H. Investigation on the intergranular interaction of the soft magnetic granular films by δM(H) curves. J Appl Phys. 2008;104(1):013902.
Yao D, Ge S, Zhou X, Zuo H. Grain size dependence of coercivity in magnetic metal-insulator nanogranular films with uniaxial magnetic anisotropy. J Appl Phys. 2010;107(7):073902.
Herzer G. Soft magnetic nanocrystalline materials. Scripta Metall Mater. 1995;33(10–11):1741.
Acknowledgments
This study was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 50901050 and 60876035), and the Science and Technology Plan Projects of Jiangxi Provincial Education Department (No. GJJ11239).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Zhou, XY., Yao, DS. Fabrication and magnetic properties of NiFe–ZnO nano-granular films. Rare Met. 32, 269–272 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12598-013-0067-4
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12598-013-0067-4