Iron nitride films have received attention for many years. Initially

they have been studied because of their ability to improve surface hardness and wear resistance. Recently

the FeN thin films have been widely investigated since they show a variety of structures and magnetic properties. All nitrides with the composition of Fe

x

N(

x

≥3) are ferromagnetic and stable at room temperature. In particular

α″-Fe

16

N

2

phase is the most important compound and can be a possible candidate for high density magnetic recording media owing to its very high magnetic moment even higher than that of pure iron. However

up to now

little research has been done to investigate the dynamical scaling behavior of iron nitride films sputtered on glass to determine its universality class although dynamic scaling may be a useful method for understanding the formation of structure of the thin films. There are three types of growth morphologies:layer by layer growth

unstable growth

and self affine surface. Solid films grown under far from equilibrium conditions are predicted to have self affine surfaces

and the roughness can be characterized by appealing to a dynamic form. Moreover

the KPZ equation has proven to be a universal equation for real surface growth phenomena only on the basis of computer simulations. There is nearly no unambiguous experimental demonstration of KPZ growth. In this study

we deposited iron nitride thin films by DC magnetron sputtering at mixed Ar/N

2

discharges(N

2

fraction of 5%

10%

30%

50%

respectively) and different times(160

30

20

10

5min) in order to study their kinetic scaling behavior. The composition of the films was analyzed using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy experiment (XPS). The layer phases and surface morphology of the films were characterized using grazing incidence X-ray scattering and X-ray diffraction as well as atomic force microscopy. For the film grown at N

2

fraction of 30% and 50%

the phase of FeN appears

if the N

2

fraction is 10%

the phase of ε Fe

3

N is formed

while the phase of FeN

0.056

occurs for the film deposited at N

2

fraction of 5%. The surface of the films deposited at N

2

fraction of 5% showed a self affine character. The values　of roughness exponent α≈0.65 and growth exponent β≈0.53±0.02 are in agreement with the improvised KPZ exponents based on Kolmogorov’s energy cascade concept.