Iron-iron oxide composite thin films prepared by chemical vapor deposition from iron pentacarbonyl

Iron-iron oxide (Fe-Fe3O4) composite thin films were prepared by an atmospheric-pressure chemical vapor deposition method. Iron pentacarbonyl and carbon dioxide gas were used as source materials. The effect of carbon dioxide mole fraction on the structure of the firm is discussed. For both Fe-Fe3O4 and Fe-gamma-Fe2O3 films, the magnetic properties were obtained from the hysteresis curve of in-plane magnetization. The results show that the inclusions of Fe in both Fe3O4 and gamma-Fe2O3 films yielded higher saturation magnetizations and lower coercivities compared to those for the oxide films without inclusions of Fe. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.