Effect of epitaxy and lattice mismatch on saturation magnetization of γ′-Fe4N thin films

We report the effect of epitaxial growth and lattice mismatch on the enhancement of saturation magnetization (Ms) of ferromagnetic γ′-Fe4N thin films deposited on different single crystal substrates having lattice mismatches from 0% to 11%. It was found that Ms in the γ′-Fe4N film increased with increasing degree of epitaxy and minimizing lattice mismatch between the film and the substrate. Maximum saturation magnetization of 1980±20emu∕cm3 (about 24% higher than previous result) was obtained with LaAlO3(100) substrate having zero lattice mismatch after postannealing of 30min, which is believed to originate from magnetovolume effect in well-ordered epitaxially grown films.