Effects of iron concentration and cationic site disorder on the optical properties of magnetoelectric gallium ferrite thin films
Alexandre Thomasson,Fatima Ibrahim,Christophe Lefevre,Emmanuel Autissier,François Roulland,Christian Mény,Cédric Leuvrey,Sukgeun Choi,William Jo,Olivier Crégut,Gilles Versini,Sophie Barre,Mébarek Alouani,Nathalie Viart
RSC Advances Pub Date : 12/21/2012 00:00:00 , DOI:10.1039/C2RA22681B
Abstract

Room-temperature dielectric function ε = ε1 + 2 spectra of magnetoelectric Ga2−xFexO3 (x = 0.9, 1.0, and 1.4) thin films are determined by spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE) as a function of Fe concentration x. The SE data are analysed by a multilayer model with a series of Tauc-Lorentz oscillators. While the threshold energies slightly decrease as x increases, the oscillator strength shows a strong composition-dependence for the major optical structure at ∼3.5 eV. The experimental data are compared to the ε spectra obtained by density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Even though the overall shape of ε spectra is consistent, the experimental data and calculated spectra show a clear discrepancy in the oscillator's strength ratio of the two optical structures at ∼3.5 and ∼6.0 eV. The DFT calculations suggest that a significant disordering in the cationic (Ga and Fe) sites in Ga2−xFexO3 is present in thin films, which influences their optical properties. This work demonstrates a successful application of optical characterization for determining the cationic sites occupation in thin films, which in turn improves our understanding of Physics and Chemistry in Ga2−xFexO3 thin films and paves a pathway to the development of new multifunctional devices.

Graphical abstract: Effects of iron concentration and cationic site disorder on the optical properties of magnetoelectric gallium ferrite thin films