Effect of metallic underlayer on structural and magnetic properties of sputtered Fe3O4 films

Abstract High-quality Fe3O4 films are fabricated on glass substrates with metallic underlayers of Cr/Cu or Al by RF magnetron sputtering at relatively low deposition temperature of 300°C. The measured values of saturation magnetization Ms are 462 emu/cm3 for Al(50 nm)/Fe3O4(200 nm) and 422 emu/cm3 for Cr(45 nm)/Cu(300 nm)/Fe3O4(200 nm), which are drastically enhanced compared with that for the reference sample deposited directly on a glass substrate, and practically comparable to the bulk value of 477 emu/cm3.