A monolayer of 20 nm sized Fe3C
nanoparticles encapsulated by graphite was fabricated by heat treating a
polyimide/Fe/polyimide thin-film stack. Transmission electron microscopy and Raman
spectroscopy confirmed the graphitization of the polyimide film in the vicinity of the
Fe3C particles when
annealed above 600 °C.
Carbon-encapsulated Fe3C
nanoparticles with a narrow size distribution were produced by
introducing two-step annealing to initially produce a monolayer of
γ-Fe2O3
particles which was converted into carbon-encapsulated
Fe3C nanoparticles
during the second annealing stage. The thus-produced nanoparticles exhibited a saturation magnetization
of 55.4 emu g−1
and coercivity of 360 Oe at room temperature.