Increased magnetic moment induced by lattice expansion from α-Fe to α′-Fe8N

Abstract

Buffer-free and epitaxial α-Fe and α′-Fe8Nx thin films have been grown by RF magnetron sputtering onto MgO (100) substrates. The film thicknesses were determined with high accuracy by evaluating the Kiessig fringes of X-ray reflectometry measurements allowing a precise volume estimation. A gradual increase of the nitrogen content in the plasma led to an expansion of the iron bcc unit cell along the [001] direction resulting finally in a tetragonal distortion of about 10% corresponding to the formation of α′-Fe8N. The α-Fe lattice expansion was accompanied by an increase in magnetic moment to 2.61 ± 0.06μB per Fe atom and a considerable increase in anisotropy. These experiments show that—without requiring any additional ordering of the nitrogen atoms—the lattice expansion of α-Fe itself is the origin of the increased magnetic moment in α′-Fe8N.