Growth and thermal stability of Ga(1−X)CrXN films

GaCrN thin films were synthesized using gas-source molecular beam epitaxy. No evidence of second-phase formation was observed by powder x-ray diffraction. Magnetic characterization performed using a superconducting quantum interference device magnetometer showed evidence of ferromagnetic ordering at room temperature for all samples. In agreement with theoretical predictions, material with 3% Cr showed the highest degree of ordering. No evidence of segregation was found from secondary ion mass spectroscopy analysis. The oxygen content of the film was found to be ∼1019cm−3. After rapid thermal annealing at temperatures up to 700 °C in a nitrogen ambient for 1 min, the room temperature saturation magnetization of the GaCrN films remained virtually unchanged, in contrast to similarly prepared GaMnN films.