Origin of anomalous diffusion in iron mononitride thin films

Akhil Tayal, Mukul Gupta, Ajay Gupta, P. Rajput, and J. Stahn
Phys. Rev. B 92, 054109 – Published 24 August 2015

Abstract

In this work we aim to resolve the counterintuitive diffusion behavior of Fe and N atoms in an iron mononitride (FeN) thin film. It was observed that in spite of their larger size, Fe atoms tend to diffuse more rapidly than smaller N atoms. This only happens in the N-rich region of the Fe-N phase diagram; in N-poor regions, the N diffusion coefficient is orders of magnitude larger than that of Fe. Detailed self-diffusion measurements performed in FeN thin films reveal that the diffusion mechanism of Fe and N is different: Fe atoms diffuse through a complex process which, in addition to volume diffusion, is predominantly controlled by fast grain boundary diffusion. On the other hand, N atoms diffuse through a classical volume diffusion process. Observed results are explained in terms of stronger Fe-N (than Fe-Fe) bonds generally predicted theoretically for mononitride compositions of transition metals.

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  • Received 24 April 2015
  • Revised 13 July 2015

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.92.054109

©2015 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Condensed Matter, Materials & Applied Physics

Authors & Affiliations

Akhil Tayal1, Mukul Gupta1,*, Ajay Gupta2, P. Rajput3, and J. Stahn4

  • 1UGC-DAE Consortium for Scientific Research, University Campus, Khandwa Road, Indore 452 001, India
  • 2Amity Center for Spintronic Materials, Amity University, Sector 125, Noida 201 303, India
  • 3Atomic & Molecular Physics Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400 085, India
  • 4Laboratory for Neutron Scattering and Imaging, Paul Scherrer Institut, CH-5232 Villigen PSI, Switzerland

  • *mgupta@csr.res.in; dr.mukul.gupta@gmail.com

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Issue

Vol. 92, Iss. 5 — 1 August 2015

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