Characterization of nano-sized iron particle layers spin coated on glass substrate

摘要

Nanometer scale iron particles have a variety of technological applications. They are vastly utilized in optical and microwave devices. Thin films with varying compositions of iron (Ⅲ) nitrate and ethylene glycol were deposited on glass substrate using a spin coating technique. The thicknesses of the films were controlled by the spin rate. Precursor films on the substrate were then annealed to different temperatures ranging from 200°C to 600°C for 1 -3 hours in air. The microstructures of iron particles in films prepared under different conditions were investigated using X-ray Absorption spectroscopy and Mossbauer spectroscopy. The main absorption edge peak position and pre-edge energy position were identical in samples with different numbers of layers, but prepared under similar conditions. This indicates that there was no change in the charge state of the iron regardless of the number of layers. However the intensity of the pre-edge feature decreases as the number of layers increases, which shows a decrease of Fe-O compounds as the number of layers increases. Mossbauer spectrum of these iron particles contains only quadrupole doublets. The absence of six-line-spectrum confirms the nano-size nature of the particles.