Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
1664637 | Thin Solid Films | 2015 | 5 Pages |
Abstract
This work reports the morphological and chemical characterization of multiferroic BiFeO3 polycrystalline thin films grown on Si(111) by RF-sputtering. Results are shown for a large set of samples and a wide array of experimental techniques, including imaging (atomic/piezoresponse force microscopy) and spectroscopic (μ-Raman, X-ray photoemission, X-ray diffraction) probes. Through growth and post-growth annealing treatment, a fine control over stoichiometry, grain size, grain orientation, crystal order and surface roughness is achieved. In particular, the grain size can be tailored from nanocrystals to large micrometric plates as a function of the annealing temperature. For the optimal stoichiometric sample, an additional X-ray absorption and magnetic circular dichroism analysis has been carried out, which provides high quality spectra comparable with epitaxial films and further proves the expected strong local antiferromagnetic order.
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Authors
Giovanni Drera, Alessio Giampietri, Ivano Alessandri, Elena Magnano, Federica Bondino, Silvia Nappini,