NiCuZn ferrite thin films grown by a sol–gel method and rapid thermal annealing

Ni0.8−xCu0.2ZnxFe2O4 thin films were fabricated by sol–gel method and rapid thermal annealing (RTA). The X-diffraction and atomic force microscopy (AFM) measurements indicate that the films have a single-phase spinel structure with calcining temperature T⩾600 °C. The saturation magnetization Ms and coercivity Hc of the films as a function of the film composition were investigated by alternating gradient magnetometer (AGM). It has been found that the Ms increases firstly and then decreases with the increasing of Zn content. The Ms reaches the maximum value about 271.56 emu/cm3 for x=0.45, meanwhile the Hc reaches the minimum value about 15.62 Oe for x=0.4. The processing parameters were optimized, which includes the coating concentration, the annealing temperature and time for the films. The results indicate that the coating concentration of 0.4 mol/L, crystallization at 600 °C and annealing for 5 min are suitable for NiCuZn ferrite thin film.