Investigation of Magnetite Thin-Films Produced by Pulsed Laser Deposition

Abstract
Thin-films of magnetite, Fe₃O₄ have been produced by the XeCl excimer laser ablation of both Fe₃O₄ and metallic Fe targets. The ablation of metallic Fe has been shown to produce about two orders of magnitude smaller concentration of boulders than the ablation of bulk magnetite. The use of singie-ctystal, lattice-matching substrates was found to be necessary at lower fluences (1 - 3 J cm_-2) for the ablation of metallic Fe, whereas polycrystalline, non-lattice-matching substrates were adequate for deposition with moderate laser fluences (5 - 6 J cm^-2) Film quality, which has been assessed by examining the Verwey transition via electrical conductivity and magnetic measurements, was found to decrease with decreasing film thickness.