Nitrogen-induced local magnetic and structural properties of sputtered FeAlN thin films

Conversion electron Mossbauer spectroscopy (CEMS) and x-ray diffraction are used to discuss a series of rf-reactively sputtered FeAlN thin films with the goal of gaining insight into the origins of their uniaxial magnetic anisotropy (UMA). UMA and its thermal stability are therefore concluded to have a correlation with the local environment of the Fe structure induced by N doping.