Effects of Oxygen on Magnetic and Magnetooptical Properties of PtMnSb Sputtered Films

The effects of oxygen in Ar/O2 mixed sputtering gas on the magnetic and magnetooptic properties of PtMnSb films prepared by rf sputtering were investigated. In addition to a PtMnSb phase, the growth of Mn2Sb, PtSb2, and oxides of Mn and Sb were observed in PtMnSb films prepared at low total sputtering gas pressures. The saturation magnetization Ms decreases with decreasing total gas pressure, leading to improvement in the perpendicular magnetic anisotropy of films. The change in the Kerr rotation angle ¿Kp with decreasing total gas pressure is small compared with the change in Ms, and ¿Kp/Ms is increased at low total gas pressures.