Deposition of ferromagnetic metal thin films by ion beam sputtering

Fe, Co and Ni thin films have been prepared by ion beam sputtering method. The structure and magnetic properties of them were investigated. They were highly pure, very uniform and homogeneous. Fe and Ni films all had the same crystal structure as that of the target bulk. Co films prepared at the substrate temperature above 200 °C had the f.c.c structure, while the Co target bulk had h.c.p structure. It was found that the magnetic properties depended largely on the deposition conditions. For instance, coercivity Hc increased with increase of the substrate temperature and the gas pressure in the sputtering chamber. The magnitude of Hc of the ion beam sputtered films were about 1 to 2 orders less than those of the films prepared by a conventional sputtering method. The oblique-incidence of the sputtered particles onto the substrate formed the columnar aggregates inclined from the direction normal to the film plane and produced the magnetic anisotropy in the film plane.