Preparation and X-Ray Diffraction Study of Strongly Oriented Thin Films with Potential Magnetoelectric Effect*

Thin films of M, Y and Z hexagonal ferrites with a potential of magnetoelectric (ME) effect were prepared by chemical solution deposition method and processing parameters were tested and optimized. Several substrates were used, and different substrate/seeding layer/ferrite layer architectures were proposed to get strong preferred grain orientation. The films were studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD), AFM and EBSD. Lattice parameters, out-of-plane and in-plane grain orientations, crystallite sizes, microstrains and residual stresses were obtained by different XRD symmetric and asymmetric scans and their combinations.
New Y-ferrite phases were prepared with the composition BaSrZnCoFe₁₁(Me)O₂₂ (Me = Al, Ga, In, Sc). For Me = Al, Ga the magnetic structure is of non-colinear ferrimagnetic type with unspecified helical magnetic structure.
ME Z-type ferrite Sr₃Co₂Fe₂₄O₄₁ and Ba_xSr_3-xCo₂Fe₂₄O₄₁ thin films were prepared and characterized for the first time. Three present M, S and Z phases showed well out-of-plane and in-plane mutual orientations.