Composition change in magnetron-sputtered Fe-Zr-N film with erosion of Fe-Zr alloy target

Author

Ichihara, Katsutaro ; Tateyama, Koichi ; Sakai, Ryo ; Ishigami, Takashi

Author_Institution

Res. & Dev. Center, Toshiba Corp., Kawasaki, Japan

Volume

33

Issue

6

fYear

1997

fDate

11/1/1997 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

4449

Lastpage

4453

Abstract

The composition of magnetron-sputtered Fe-Zr-N films is found to change with the erosion of the high-permeability Fe-Zr alloy target. Zr is preferentially sputtered parallel to the target surface, and this tendency is more pronounced as erosion increases, Incident ion energy decreases with erosion because the leakage magnetic flux intensity increases, and the plasma density increases as a result of enhanced ionization frequency. This composition change has been attributed to a reflective collision process becoming dominant as the incident ion energy decreases with increasing erosion. A novel mosaic-type target, consisting of both alloy and single-element phases, has been developed, and the composition change is successfully suppressed and compositional uniformity is markedly improved

Keywords

iron alloys; magnetic flux; magnetic heads; magnetic permeability; magnetic thin film devices; magnetisation; sputtering; wear; zirconium alloys; FeZrN; composition change; erosion; hard disks; high-permeability alloy target; incident ion energy; ionization frequency; leakage magnetic flux intensity; magnetic heads; magnetron sputtering; mosaic-type target; plasma density; reflective collision process; saturation magnetisation; Disk recording; Magnetic anisotropy; Magnetic films; Magnetic flux; Magnetic recording; Permeability; Perpendicular magnetic anisotropy; Saturation magnetization; Sputtering; Zirconium;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Magnetics, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9464

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/20.649880

Filename

649880