Coercivity, surface roughness, and microstructure of Pr-Fe-B thin films on a calcinated Si substrate surface

• Published in: Inorganic chemistry communications Vol. 154; p. 111000
• Main Authors: Be Lan, Tran Thi, Aidan Sun, An-Cheng
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 01.08.2023
• Subjects: Calcinated Si substrate; Magnetic properties; Pr-Fe-B film; Surface feature; Calcinated Si substrate; Pr-Fe-B film; Surface feature; Magnetic properties
• ISSN: 1387-7003; 1879-0259
• DOI: 10.1016/j.inoche.2023.111000

Calcination of Si substrate created a rougher surface with the surface roughness approximately 0.203 nm. It was more advantage for deposition the Pr-Fe-B thin film with the higher surface roughness. Simultaneously, the Pr-Fe-B thin film on the calcinated Si substrate at 650 °C indicated a discern formation of Fe3Si phase grains at the interface of Pr-Fe-B/Calcinated Si. This phase oriented following [110] direction and only supported for the growth of Pr2Fe14Bphase in (00l) direction. It led to the improvement of magnetic properties. [Display omitted] •Calcination of Si substrate created a proper roughness surface for growing Pr-Fe-B films.•Calcinated Si substrate improved the magnetic properties of Pr-Fe-B films.•Calcinated Si substrate can obtaine more Fe-Si new underlayer.•The Fe-Si new underlayer supported the better growth of Pr-Fe-B thin film. Pr-Fe-B thin films were prepared on two forms of substrates by the sputtering technique. In this study, the effect of calcination of Si substrate at 950 °C before the sputtering process was mainly examined. Pr-Fe-B magnetic layers were deposited on SiO2 underlayer/un-calcinated Si substrate and calcinated Si substrate. The surface morphology, crystal structure, microstructure, and magnetic properties of two thin films were characterized and measured for their comparison and evaluation. The calcinated Si substrate obtained a rougher surface that significantly contributed to the growth of the Pr-Fe-B thin film. The surface morphology of the Pr-Fe-B thin film on the calcinated Si substrate showed differences from the surface morphology of the Pr-Fe-B thin film on the un-calcinated Si substrate, with a more homogeneous distribution of grain size. The microstructure analysis indicated an increased formation of Fe3Si new underlayer on the calcinated Si substrate. The calcinated Si substrate improved the magnetic properties of the thin film better than the un-calcinated Si substrate with the inserted SiO2 underlayer.