The production of the new cubic FeN phase by reactive magnetron sputtering

Abstract FeNy films with a nitrogen content of nearly 50 at.% (y≈1) were prepared by reactive magnetron sputtering. Their properties were studied as a function of several sputtering parameters (gas-flow rates, substrate temperature and bias voltage), using ion-beam analytical methods, Mossbauer spectroscopy as well as transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). In order to highlight the role of light contaminant elements (H,C,O) in the production of single-phase cubic FeN films, the concentration profiles of all the elements of the films were measured by Time of Flight Elastic Recoil Detection Analysis (TOF-ERDA).