Ferromagnetic Fe3N films grown on GaN(0 0 0 2) substrates by MOCVD

Abstract We have grown Fe 3 N films on GaN(0 0 0 2) substrates by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). Under lower growth temperatures, small iron particles were formed on GaN surface, while under higher growth temperatures, Fe 3 N films were formed. The surface morphology of samples with different growth temperatures were characterized by atomic force microscopy. In X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) measurement, the coexistence of metallic Fe and Fe 2+ or Fe 3+ was observed in the sample grown at 600 °C, while the sample grown at 1050 °C showed only high valence forms of Fe ions. It was also found that the magnetic moments of Fe 3 N prefer to align normal to the c -axis.