Properties of Fe-Zr-N Thin Films
Gases emerging from Fe-Zr-N films with various compositions during heating were analyzed by thermal desorption spectroscopy. The structures and magnetic properties of films were also investigated. H2, N2 and Ar were detected at 300-400°C, 500°C and 650°C, respectively. Larger amounts of N2 were emitted by films which contained larger amounts of N2. The changes in composition of films due to the emerging N2 is as follows. The composition changed for N/Zr ratios ranging from N/Zr≫1 to N/Zr~1, but was unchanged when N/Zr1. A (100) preferred orientation occurred in films in which the composition was N~Zr≫8 at% in the as-deposited state, while either a (100) orientation or random orientation occurred in all other cases. Under the former conditions, Fe-Zr-N films showed excellent soft magnetic properties and thermal stability up to 700°C.
Fe-(Ta, Nb, Zr)-N系合金薄膜の組織と磁気持性
Microstructures and magnetic properties of Fe- (Ta, Nb, Zr)-N alloy films near the eutectic composition were studied. These new soft magnetic alloy films were prepared by N2 reactive sputtering. The structures and magnetic properties were changed by annealing or adjusting N2 partial pressure ratio. The film structures were investigated with X-ray diffraction and TEM, and the following results were obtained. (i) the as prepared films; amorphous like phase, (ii) the annealed films; homogeneous mixture of fine-grained α-Fe and (Ta, Nb, Zr) nitrides, (iii) the films annealed at higher temperatures; composite of grown grains of α-Fe and (Ta, Nb, Zr) nitrides. Among these films, the films (ii) exhibit good soft magnetic properties, small magnetostriction and high saturation magnetization up to 1.6 T. Furthermore, Fe-Ta-Zr-N alloy films show higher thermal stability of the soft magnetic properties.
Soft magnetic properties of Fe‐C/Ni‐Fe multilayered films
The paper examines soft magnetic properties and film structures of Fe‐C/Ni‐Fe multilayers formed by the dual ion‐beam sputtering method. The following results are obtained. (1) The addition of C to Fe improves the soft magnetic properties of Fe, making its magnetostriction constant zero while keeping its high saturation magnetic flux density. (2) The insertion of Ni‐Fe intermediate layers between Fe‐C layers further improves the soft magnetic properties to a relative permeability of 3000, with a saturation magnetic flux density of 2.0 T. (3) The improvements in the soft magnetic properties are due to reductions in the magnetic anisotropy dispersions and the mean anisotropy field, which in turn are due to reduction of crystallite diameter.