Magnetic properties and corrosion resistance of single-crystal iron films prepared by dual-ion-beam sputtering

Single-crystal iron films with the [100], [110] and [111] planes were epitaxially grown on single-crystal GaAs plates with the respective crystallographic planes prepared by dual-ion-beam sputtering. Iron targets with different purity with 99.99%, 99.5% and 98% were used. Crystallinity of the films examined by X-ray diffraction was not so sensitive to the target purity, but magnetic properties and corrosion resistance were strongly influenced by the target purity; soft magnetic and high corrosion resistant films were obtained by high purity iron target. The most corrosion resistant films were obtained for [110] iron films using 99.99% iron target, which is comparable to high corrosion-resistant stainless steel.