Absence of magnetism in hafnium oxide films

We establish the limits of magnetism in thin, electronic grade, hafnium oxide, and hafnium silicate films deposited onto silicon wafers by chemical vapor deposition and atomic layer deposition. To the limits of sensitivity of our measurement techniques, no ferromagnetism occurs in these samples. Contamination by handling with stainless-steel tweezers leads to a measurable magnetic signal. The magnetic properties of this contamination are similar to those attributed to ferromagnetic HfO2 in a recent report, including the magnitude of moment, magnetization field dependence, and spatial asymmetry. © 2005 American Institute of Physics.