Sputter deposition of magnetic thin films onto plastic: the effect of undercoat and spacer layer composition on the magnetic properties of multilayer permalloy thin films

The coercive force, anisotropy field, and permeability spectra of magnetically soft, multilayer thin films sputtered onto plastic for use as identification markers or EMI shields is reported. Substrate effects including use of undercoat layers, layers separating the substrate from the magnetic stack, are reported. It is found that undercoat layers act to increase the soft magnetic properties. Effects of stack design, including spacer layer material and stack geometry, on the magnetic properties are also reported