Magnetic Properties of Metastable Fe-Cu Alloys Produced by Vapor Quenching

Homogeneous metastable Fe1-xCux films were prepared by RF sputtering, and their magnetic properties investigated. X-ray diffraction showed a single bcc phase for x = 0 to 0.4, and a single fcc phase for x = 0.6 to 1.0; deviations from the simple dilution law for the magnetic moment were observed for both structures. Mössbauer spectra indicated a tendency toward magnetic perpendicular anisotropy in bcc samples, and the average magnetic hyperfine field Hhf decreased slowly with x for both bcc and fcc alloys. Sample distributions were almost completely random (homogeneous) even on a microscopic scale.