Growth and physical property of epitaxial Co70Fe30 thin film on Si substrate via TiN buffer

Epitaxial Co70Fe30 films with the bcc structure were grown on a Si(001) substrate with TiN as a buffer by sputtering technique. The x-ray diffraction results confirmed the epitaxial nature of the films and the crystallographic relationship was determined as Co70Fe30(002)⟨110⟩∕∕TiN(002)⟨100⟩∕∕Si(004)⟨100⟩. The surface morphology characterized by atomic force microscopy on our films revealed that smooth surfaces could be obtained at growth temperatures below 350°C. The strain state of 60nm epitaxial Co70Fe30 films was studied as a function of growth temperature. Magnetization hysteresis loops of the films grown at 300°C were measured using superconducting quantum interface device magnetometer.