Magnetic Properties of CoFe₂O₄ Thin Films Synthesized by Radical-Enhanced Atomic Layer Deposition

A radical-enhanced atomic layer deposition (RE-ALD) process was developed for growing ferrimagnetic CoFe 2 O 4 thin films. By utilizing bis(2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-3,5-heptanedionato) cobalt(II), tris(2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-3,5-heptanedionato) iron(III), and atomic oxygen as the metal and oxidation sources, respectively, amorphous and stoichiometric CoFe 2 O 4 films were deposited onto SrTiO 3 (001) substrates at 200 °C. The RE-ALD growth rate obtained for CoFe 2 O 4 is ∼2.4 Å/supercycle, significantly higher than the values reported for thermally activated ALD processes. Microstructural characterization by X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy indicate that the CoFe 2 O 4 films annealed between 450 and 750 °C were textured polycrystalline with an epitaxial interfacial layer, which allows strain-mediated tuning of the magnetic properties given its highly magnetostrictive nature. The magnetic behavior was studied as a function of film thickness and annealing temperature: saturation magnetization ( M s ) ranged from 260 to 550 emu/cm 3 and magnetic coercivity ( H c ) ranged from 0.2 to 2.2 kOe. Enhanced magnetic anisotropy was achieved in the thinner samples, whereas the overall magnetic strength improved after annealing at higher temperatures. The RE-ALD CoFe 2 O 4 thin films exhibit magnetic properties that are comparable to both bulk crystal and films grown by other deposition methods, with thickness as low as ∼7 nm, demonstrating the potential of RE-ALD for the synthesis of high-quality magnetic oxides with large-scale processing compatibility.