FINEMET-type thin films deposited by HiPIMS: Influence of growth and annealing conditions on the magnetic behaviour

Results concerning the influence of deposition conditions (effective power, Peff, pulse length, τ, and working gas pressure, p) as well as of thermal treatments on the properties of Fe73.5Cu1Nb3Si15.5B7 thin films, deposited by high power impulse magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS) technique, are presented. The Peff, τ and p values were varied in the range of 30–90 W, 4–20 μs and 8–60 mTorr respectively. According to the XRD analysis, in as-deposited state, all the prepared samples are amorphous. For Peff constant the coercive magnetic field, Hc, increases whit τ, while for τ constant Hc decreases when Peff increases. The lowest Hc values have been obtained after the samples were annealed at temperatures between 450 °C and 480 °C, when the average size of the α-Fe(Si) grains and the crystalline volume fraction increase about 45% and 20% respectively.