Abstract
Ferromagnetic iron oxides, typically ferrites, have attracted much interest as a promising material for next generation of electronic devices because of its broad range of electrical properties. Pulsed laser deposition (PLD) is an effective method to grow the thin films of these materials. In this review, studies on the PLD growth of the ferrite thin films were outlined. On the basis of thermodynamical consideration, criteria for low-temperature growth of good films were discussed. The PLD growth in high vacuum, so-called laser-molecular beam epitaxy, was shown to be effective to low-temperature growth of the ferrite thin films. The effectiveness was practically demonstrated through the film growth of Fe3O4, MnZn- and NiZn-ferrite with spinel structure. Room-temperature epitaxial growth of the MnZnand NiZn ferrite thin films with high quality were achieved by this technique for the first time.
