Magnetic properties of SrTiO3-buffered Ba(Fe0.2Zr0.8)O3-δ films on Si(001) substrates

Ba(Fe0.2Zr0.8)O3-delta (BFZO) films were synthesized on Si(001) substrates using SrTiO3 (STO) buffer layers by pulsed laser-beam deposition method. The results of the x-ray diffraction revealed that the STO buffer layers and the BFZO films had polycrystalline nature. The STO-buffered BFZO films showed ferromagnetic hysteresis loops at room temperature, and their saturation magnetization was 3.3 times as large as that of the BFZO films directly deposited on Si(001) substrates. The STO-buffered BFZO films partially grew epitaxially on the STO buffer layers with orientation relationships. The results of the x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis using soft x-ray radiation indicated that the relative amount of the Fe4+ ions fairly increased for the STO-buffered BFZO films rather than for the BFZO films directly deposited on Si substrates. (C) 2009 American Institute of Physics. [DOI: 10.1063/1.3059407]