Growth rate effects in soft CoFe films

Melvin Vopson, K. O'Grady, M. Georgieva, P. Grundy, M. Thwaites

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    Abstract

    We report on growth rate effects in sputter-deposited CoFe films prepared using high target utilization sputtering technology (HiTUS). We find that the grain structure of these polycrystalline films is closely related to the growth rate. By changing the growth rate, samples were prepared with different grain structure, which in turn had the effect of changing the magnetic properties of the films. We demonstrate control of the coercivity, which varied by a factor of more than ten. This was achieved via grain size control in CoFe films of thickness 20 nm. Furthermore, by employing a two-step sputtering process, in which two extreme growth rates are used sequentially, we were able to tune the saturation magnetization.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)3253-3255
    Number of pages3
    JournalIEEE Transactions on Magnetics
    Volume41
    Issue number10
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - Oct 2005

    Fingerprint

    Dive into the research topics of 'Growth rate effects in soft CoFe films'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

    Cite this