Magnetic properties of polycrystalline BaFe12O19 thin films prepared from metallorganic decomposition on ZrO2-coated Si substrates

In the present work the metallorganic decomposition technique has been applied to grow high-coercivity isotropic polycrystalline BaFe12O19 thin films on ZrO2/Si substrates. The influence of several growth parameters on the magnetic properties, such as the film thickness, the annealing temperature (500-850°C) and the atmosphere during thermal treatments (oxygen and air), is reported. Barium hexaferrite formation starts at 600°C, the reaction being completed within relatively short times; above 700°C, a beneficial effect of an O2 atmosphere on iHc was found. In these films particles tend to behave as single domain in the thermically demagnetized state.