A review of Fe3O4 thin films: Synthesis, modification and applications

Magnetite (Fe3O4) has been used for thousands of years as one of the important magnetic materials. The rapid developments of thin film technology in the past few decades attract the attention of material scientists on the fabrication of magnetite thin films. In this article, we present an overview of recent progress on Fe3O4 thin films. The widely used preparation methods are surveyed, and the effect of substrates is discussed. Specifically the modified Fe3O4 thin films exhibit excellent electrical and magnetic properties compared with the pure films. It is noteworthy that modified Fe3O4 thin films can be put into two categories: (1) doped films, where foreign metal ions substitute iron ions at A or B sites; and (2) hybrid films, where magnetite phases are mixed with other materials. Notably, Fe3O4 thin films show great potentials in many applications such as sensors and batteries. It is expected that the investigations of Fe3O4 thin films will give us some breakthroughs in materials science and technology.