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- In relation to this article, we declare that there is no conflict of interest.
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Received August 16, 2024
Accepted March 6, 2025
Available online May 25, 2025
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This is an Open-Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/bync/3.0) which permits
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Impact of Annealing on Metal–Oxygen Hybridization Process in Zinc Ferrite Thin Films Studied by Angle Dependent Soft X-Ray Absorption Spectroscopy
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11814-025-00444-x
Abstract
Herein, we report the impact of thermal annealing on the metal (Fe-3 d )-oxygen (O-2 p ) hybridization in zinc ferrite thin
fi lms using the angle-dependent near-edge X-ray absorption fi ne structure (NEXAFS) technique. Zinc ferrite thin fi lms of
thickness ~ 100 nm are grown on MgO (200) substrates using radio frequency sputtering. Further, these as-grown fi lms are
annealed at temperatures 200, 400, and 600 °C in an air atmosphere to improve the crystallinity of the fi lms. NEXAFS studies
on Fe L 2,3 -edge and O K -edge reveal the importance of thermal annealing on the modifi cation of the electronic structure
of zinc ferrite fi lms. Angle-dependent NEXAFS studies on Fe L 2,3 -edge suggest that the variation in electronic structure
caused by the metal–oxygen hybridization in Zinc Ferrite is infl uenced by the fi lm’s crystallinity through the annealing
process. Further, the nature of metal–oxygen hybridization in zinc ferrite is confi rmed by the O K pre-edge angle-dependent
NEXAFS studies.
