The effect of sputter-deposition conditions on the coercive force in amorphous rare-earth-transition-metal thin films

Author

Davies, C.E. ; Somekh, R.E. ; Evetts, J.E. ; Torey, P. A S

Author_Institution

Dept. of Mater. Sci. & Metall., Cambridge Univ., UK

Volume

24

Issue

6

fYear

1988

fDate

11/1/1988 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

2790

Lastpage

2792

Abstract

The origins of the coercive force in amorphous rare-earth-transition metal films have been investigated. The results are discussed in terms of how the growth conditions of the sputter-deposited films determine the pinning features that cause the coercive force. A model has been developed for the variation of coercive force with film thickness that enables a local pinning force per unit area to be deduced. This suggests that it should be possible to increase the coercive force by breaking up the microstructure with a multilayered structure. An increase in coercive force obtained by making such structures with tungsten is described. A reduction in coercive force obtained when the films are deposited in the presence of a perpendicular magnetic field is also reported and interpreted in terms of a growth annealing model

Keywords

coercive force; ferrimagnetic properties of substances; magnetic properties of amorphous substances; magnetic thin films; rare earth alloys; sputtered coatings; transition metal alloys; amorphous rare-earth-transition-metal thin films; coercive force; growth annealing model; local pinning force; microstructure; model; multilayered structure; perpendicular magnetic field; pinning features; sputter-deposition conditions; Amorphous materials; Annealing; Coercive force; Magnetic anisotropy; Magnetic films; Microstructure; Optical films; Sputtering; Substrates; Tungsten;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Magnetics, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9464

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/20.92247

Filename

92247