Preparation of Iron Oxide Thin Films by MOCVD

Abstract

Iron oxide thin films were deposited from 400 to 600°C by CVD from iron acetylacetonate (Fe(acac)3) using N2 as the transporting gas and separately introduced O2 as oxidation gas. β-Fe2O3 tended to be formed independent of O2 flow rate at 400°C. At 500 and 600°C, spinel-type Fe3O4+x was formed under low O2 flow rates. With increasing O2 flow rate, mixture of β-Fe2O3 and spinel-type Fe3O4+x was formed and the amount of β-Fe2O3 phase increased. Further increase in O2 flow rate resulted in the formation of β-Fe2O3 as a single phase. Fourier transformation infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) measurement suggested that iron acetyl-acetonate vapor changed the molecular form by decomposition under certain condition. It was supposed that the change in molecular form influences the deposited phase of iron oxide films.