Microstructural study of iron nitride thin films deposited by ion beam sputtering

An amorphous iron nitride thin film was deposited using reactive ion beam s puttering of iron by a beam of argon and nitrogen ions. Nitrogen content in the film as determined from conversion electron Mossbauer spectroscopy (CE MS) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) was FeN0.7. The mass density of the film was calculated using energy-dispersive X-ray reflectivity (EDX RR) measurements and is found to be 6.0 gm/cm(3). GEMS shows that the film is nonmagnetic in nature. Morphology of the film is obtained From atomic fo rce microscopy (AFM). The surface roughness of the film does not increase a ppreciably beyond that of the substrate even after a deposition of 131 nm o f material with these qualities the film is a good candidate for the multil ayer superstructure of a nuclear Bragg monochromator of the type (FeN0.7)-F e-56/(FeN0.7)-Fe-57. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.