Instituto de Óptica “Daza de Valdés”

Tailoring the Lithium Concentration in Thin Lithium Ferrite Films Obtained by Dual Ion Beam Sputtering

Laser Processing Group (LPG)

Madrid / September 25, 2024

Researchers from the Department of Applied Physics, Materials Physics and the Nicolás Cabrera Institute of the Autonomous University of Madrid, the Institute of Ceramics and Glass, the “Daza de Valdés” Institute of Optics and the “Blas Cabrera” Institute of Physical Chemistry of the CSIC and the Alba Synchrotron have published a study in the journal Nanomaterials in which they have shown an innovative technique to adjust the lithium concentration in lithium ferrite thin films by dual ion beam sputtering, which opens up new possibilities for the development of spintronic devices that can be easily integrated into current devices.

Spintronics is an emerging field of physics and engineering that explores the use of electron spin, in addition to its charge, to develop more efficient and advanced electronic devices. Unlike conventional electronics, which only use the movement of electric charge to store and transmit information, spintronics takes advantage of spin, a quantum property of electrons, allowing for more precise and efficient manipulation of information with almost no energy consumption by not needing to transport the electrons, allowing for faster devices with lower energy consumption and much greater storage capacity.
One of the key materials in the development of spintronic devices is lithium ferrite, known for its special magnetic properties and its ability to be integrated into thin films handled in industry.

The study focuses on tailoring the lithium concentration in lithium ferrite thin films using an advanced dual-ion beam sputtering technique. This innovative method allows for precise control of the material’s composition, modifying its properties for spintronic applications. The research opens up new possibilities in the design and fabrication of spintronic devices, moving towards a new era of electronic technologies.

The process started with the preparation of the substrates and the setup of the sputtering equipment. Different ion beam parameters were applied to adjust the lithium concentration during the deposition of the films. The lithium content has been adjusted using different energies of the Ar+ and O2+ ions. Subsequently, the obtained films were subjected to a series of characterizations using techniques such as X-ray diffraction (XRD) to analyze their crystalline structure, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) to evaluate the chemical composition and X-ray absorption (XAS) to determine the local structure of the iron ions and the respective compounds, respectively. In addition, a microstructural analysis of the film surface composition was carried out using Raman intensity mapping. The technique used in this work allows to control the structure and functional properties of the films for future spintronic devices.

Article: Pilar Prieto, Cayetano Hernández Gómez, Sara Román Sánchez, Marina París Ogáyar, Giulio Gorni, José Emilio Prieto and Aida Serrano “Tailoring the Lithium Concentration in Thin Lithium Ferrite Films Obtained by Dual Ion Beam Sputtering”. Nanomaterials Volume 14, Issue 14July 2024

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