Preparation and Properties of Ferromagnetic Antiperovskite Co3FeN Thin Films

Thin films of Co 3 FeN with an antiperovskite structure were epitaxially grown on (La 0.18 Sr 0.82 )(Al 0.59 Ta 0.41 )O 3 (001) substrates by reactive magnetron sputtering. The influence of the N 2 volume concentration in the sputtering gas mixture on the structure and properties of Co 3 FeN thin films was systematically investigated. The optimized Co 3 FeN thin films exhibited a saturation magnetization, Ms, of 1350 emu/cc, which is comparable with the theoretical value. A negative anisotropic magnetoresistance (AMR) effect with an AMR ratio of up to -0.88% was observed at 4.2 K.