Preparation of Nanocrystalline Barium Hexaferrite Thin Films Using Sol-Gel Method

Barium hexaferrite (BaFe12O19) is a hard magnetic material having good magnetic properties such as high coercivity Hc, high saturation magnetization Ms and high remanent magnetization Mr [1-2]. Thin films of barium ferrite have been recognized as one of the appealing candidates and widely used in the fabrication of low-noise high-density recording media and microwave absorber [1,3]. Various preparation methods have been developed for this material, including sputtering [4], pulsed laser deposition [5] and sol-gel process. Some investigations have been reported on processing of hexaferrite thin films by sol-gel method using water, ethanol and methanol as a solvent [6]. In this work, major objective is preparation of barium hexaferrite thin films with ethylene glycol as a solvent. The effects of calcination temperature on morphology, crystal size and composition of thin films have been also studied