Effect of substrate temperature on some properties of nitrogen incorporated nickel ferrite thin films.

The GIXRD and Raman spectroscopic studies of the nitrogen incorporated nickel ferrite (N-NFO) thin films revealed their nanocrystalline nature. The microstructure studies showed an increase in grain size with the increase of substrate temperature. The magnetization (M-H) measurements showedan increase in moment values with increase of substrate temperature. Moreover, an increase followed by a decrease in intrinsic coercive field (H_c)values with substrate temperature was seen. However, the magnetic moments were not found to saturate even at higher fields, indicating a superparamagnetic-type of behaviour. The optical transmission spectra and the corresponding Tauc plots revealed decrease of direct band gap with substrate temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]