Growth, structure and thermal reduction of MOCVD-deposited Fe films on Al2O3 (0 0 0 1) substrates

Fe films with strong preferred orientation were prepared on Al2O3 (0 0 0 1) substrates by a new two-step method using low-pressure metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (LP-MOCVD) method. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and a vibrating sample magnetometer were employed to characterize the structure and magnetic properties of the Fe films before and after thermal reduction, which was performed in hydrogen flow at 723–1023 K. XRD patterns indicate that the films changed into α-Fe (bcc) mono-phase from a mixture of α-Fe2O3 and/or Fe (bcc).