In this work we investigate the process of iron nitride (Fe-N) phase formation using 2 at.% Al or 2 at.% Ti as additives. The samples were prepared with a magnetron sputtering technique using different amount of nitrogen during the deposition process. The nitrogen partial pressure (\pn) was varied between 0-50% (rest Argon) and the targets of pure Fe, [Fe+Ti] and [Fe+Al] were sputtered. The addition of small amount of Ti or Al results in improved soft-magnetic properties when sputtered using \pn ≤ 10\p. When \pn is increased to 50\p non-magnetic Fe-N phases are formed. We found that iron mononitride (FeN) phases (N at% ∼50) are formed with Al or Ti addition at \pn =50% whereas in absence of such addition \eFeN phases (N\pat∼30) are formed. It was found that the overall nitrogen content can be increased significantly with Al or Ti additions. On the basis of obtained result we propose a mechanism describing formation of Fe-N phases Al and Ti additives.
@article{arxiv.1109.2725,
title = {Formation of iron nitride thin films with Al and Ti additives},
author = {Rachana Gupta and Akhil Tayal and Mukul Gupta and Ajay Gupta and M. Horisberger and J. Stahn},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1109.2725},
year = {2012}
}