Abstract:

The nanocrystal ε-Fe₃N thin films were deposited at a N₂ pressure of 10% by DC magnetron sputtering. The films were annealed at different temperatures of 500,600,700,800 ℃ in vaccum. The structure and magnetic properties of the films were characterized via an Xray diffractometer (XRD) and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). The results show that the structures of ε-Fe₃N films were still stable under the annealing temperature of 600 ℃. The saturation magnetization (M_s) of the films  did not change significantly. The coercivity of the films decreased at first and then increased. The soft magnetic properties were the most optimal when the ε-Fe₃N films were heattreated at 500 ℃.

Key words: &epsilon, -Fe₃N thin film； lattice distortion； magnetic property