FeN foils by nitrogen ion-implantation

Iron nitride samples in foil shape (free standing, 500nm in thickness) were prepared by a nitrogen ion-implantation method. To facilitate phase transformation, the samples were bonded on the substrate followed by a post-annealing step. By using two different substrates, single crystal Si and GaAs, structural and magnetic properties of iron nitride foil samples prepared with different nitrogen ion fluences were characterized. α′-Fe ₁₆N₂ phase in iron nitride foil samples was obtained and confirmed by the proposed approach. A hard magnetic property with coercivity up to 780Oe was achieved for the FeN foil samples bonded on Si substrate. The feasibility of using nitrogen ion implantation techniques to prepare FeN foil samples up to 500nm thickness with a stable martensitic phase under high ion fluences has been demonstrated. A possible mechanism was proposed to explain this result. This proposed method could potentially be an alternative route to prepare rare-earth-free FeN bulk magnets by stacking and pressing multiple free-standing thick α′-Fe₁₆N₂ foils together.