Properties of pulsed laser deposited scandium-doped barium hexaferrite films

The properties of thin films of BaSc(x)Fe(12-)xO(19) (x = 0.4) were determi ned by structural and magnetic measurements. Films were deposited by pulsed laser ablation deposition onto c-plane sapphire at oxygen pressures betwee n 10 and 100 mTorr. X-ray diffraction measurements showed all films to be s ingle-phase c-axis oriented hexaferrites with expanded c-axis lattice const ants compared to x = 0 films. Magnetometry measurements showed that all fil ms had the easy axis (c-axis) normal to the film plane, with a mean saturat ion magnetization value of 3.8 kG. The mean uniaxial anisotropy field value was 10.6 kOe. This ability to adjust the uniaxial anisotropy field in hexa ferrite films through selective substitution will be important for future p lanar microwave devices. (C) 1999 American Institute of Physics. [S0021-897 9(99)42208-X].