Nd composition dependence of microstructure and magnetic properties for gradient sputtered NdFeB films

NdFeB films with Nd compositions varied from 13.34 to 24.30 at% were deposited by DC gradient sputtering using targets Nd_12.5Fe_71.5B₁₆ and Nd. The hard magnetic properties, grain growth direction and magnetic domain structures were dramatically influenced by Nd composition. The samples with intermediate Nd concentrations exhibited optimal magnetic properties and microstructures, such as large squareness ratio over 0.9, large energy product up to 174 kJ/m³, and vertical domain structure. However, the samples with higher and lower Nd compositions showed almost isotropic loops. (0 0 l) as main X-ray diffraction peaks in the optimal Nd composition region indicated most of Nd₂Fe₁₄B grains with c-axis perpendicular to the film plane, while NdFeB grains in other region are almost random growth. The good magnetic properties can be attributed to the vertical growth of Nd₂Fe₁₄B grains.     

Effect of composition on phase formation,microstructure and magnetic properties of Nd–Fe–B thin films

Nd–Fe–B hard magnetic thin films were deposited on a combined Cr/Ta buffer layer on heated MgO(1 0 0) substrates by pulsed laser deposition. The effect of composition on phase formation, morphology and magnetic properties was investigated. For a quantification of phase formation, hysteresis measurements along the hard axis are used. Optimum phase formation is obtained at a Nd/Fe ratio around 0.3. For this Nd content an excellent magnetic texture and a coercivity up to 1 T can be obtained; however, remanence is reduced and the films have a granular microstructure with high roughness. Also a certain B surplus is of benefit. However, with a too-high B or Nd surplus phase formation is more difficult.     

Effects of thickness and annealing condition on magnetic properties and thermal stabilities of Ta/Nd/NdFeB/Nd/Ta sandwiched films

Ta/Nd/NdFeB/Nd/Ta sandwiched films are deposited by magnetron sputtering on Si(100) substrates,and subsequently annealed in vacuum at different temperatures for different time.It is found that both the thickness of NdFeB and Nd layer and the annealing condition can affect the magnetic properties of Ta/Nd/NdFeB/Nd/Ta films.Interestingly,the thickness and annealing temperature show the relevant behaviors that can affect the magnetic properties of the film.The high coercivity of 24.1 kOe(1 Oe = 79.5775 A/m) and remanence ratio(remanent magnetization/saturation magnetization)of 0.94 can be obtained in a Ta/Nd(250 nm)/NdFeB(600 nm)/Nd(250 nm)/Ta film annealed for 3 min at 1023 K.In addition,the thermal stability of the film is also linked to the thickness of NdFeB and Nd layer and the annealing temperature as well.The excellent thermal stability can be achieved in a Ta/Nd(250 nm)/NdFeB(600 nm)/Nd(250 nm)/Ta film annealed at1023 K.     

The effect of thickness and annealing condition on the microstructure and magnetic properties of Fe/Pt multilayer thin films

[Fe(0.5 nm)/Pt(0.5 nm)]₄₀, [Fe(1 nm)/Pt(1.5 nm)]₂₀ and [Fe(3 nm)/Pt(3 nm)]₁₀ multilayer were prepared by DC magnetron sputtering. By conventional furnace annealing (CA) at 270–600 °C for various time, all of the films still remained the disordered structure with the soft magnetic phase. By rapid thermal annealing (RTA) at 500 °C for various time, we obtained the [Fe(1 nm)/Pt(1.5 nm)]₂₀ and [Fe(3 nm)/Pt(3 nm)]₁₀ films with L1₂ ordered FePt₃ phase which was almost ferromagnetic at room temperature. However, the [Fe(0.5 nm)/Pt(0.5 nm)]₄₀ films was still disordered state even under RTA. Compared with CA, RTA exposed an outstanding effect on accelerating the phase transition when the film thickness is over [Fe(0.5 nm)/Pt(0.5 nm)]₄₀.     

The structures and magnetic properties of Cr/Fe and Mn/Fe thin films

Cr_1-x Fe _x and Mn_1-x Fe _x films were prepared at room temperature by thermal coevaporation at a deposition rate of about 25 Å/min. It was found that an amorphous phase can be obtained for Cr_1-x Fe _x (0.25<x<0.60) films, while a metastable-Mn-type phase was observed for Mn_1-x Fe _x (x<0.70) films. The influence of the structure on the magnetic properties has been studied. The amorphization ability of the two systems was discussed in terms of thermodynamic considerations.     

Effects of the Hf content on the microstructure and magnetic properties of Co-Hf-Ta thin films

Effects of the Hf content in Co-Hf-Ta thin films on the microstructure and magnetic properties were investigated in this study. It was found that appropriate Hf addition can effectively refine the Co grain size. Co grain sizes sharply decreased from 50 nm down to 2.3 nm with increasing the Hf content from 1.02 at.% to 2.81 at.%, leading to the reduced magneto-crystalline anisotropy. The Co-Hf-Ta thin films with small Co grains reveal low anisotropy field, low coercivity, and high resistivity. By optimizing the Hf content, the film with Hf concentration of 2.81 at.% exhibits excellent soft magnetic properties: high saturation magnetization (4πM_S ∼ 13.6 kG), and low coercivity (H_C ∼ 0.6 Oe). The effective permeability of the film reaches 800 and remains constant up to 1 GHz.     

Al掺杂ZnO薄膜的厚度对其结构及磁学性能的影响

采用直流磁控共溅的方法在玻璃基底上制备了不同厚度的Al掺杂ZnO薄膜,并在真空和空气中分别退火.利用X射线衍射仪(XRD)和物理性能测量仪(PPMS)对系列薄膜的结构和磁性进行了表征.XRD结果显示:随着膜厚的增加,晶粒尺寸逐渐增大,薄膜的内应力逐渐减小.在空气退火的薄膜样品中观察到了室温的铁磁性,薄膜的饱和磁化强度M_s 随着膜厚的增加而增大,而矫顽力H_c却随着膜厚的增加而减小. 关键词： Al掺杂ZnO薄膜 薄膜厚度 应力 铁磁性     

Hard magnetic properties of rapidly annealed NdFeB thin films on Nb and V buffer layers

NdFeB thin films of the form A (20 nm)/NdFeB(d nm)/A(20 nm), where d ranges from 54 to 540 nm and the buffer layer A is Nb or V were prepared on a Si(1 0 0) substrate by magnetron sputtering. The hard Nd₂Fe₁₄B phase is formed by a 30 s rapid anneal or a 20 min anneal. Average crystallite size ranged from 20 to 35 nm with the rapidly annealed samples having the smaller crystallite size. These samples also exhibited a larger coercivity and energy product than those treated by a 20 min vacuum anneal. A maximum coercivity of 26.3 kOe at room temperature was obtained for a Nb/NdFeB (180 nm)/Nb film after a rapid anneal at 725°C. Initial magnetization curves indicate magnetization rotation rather than nucleation of reverse domains is important in the magnetization process. A Brown's equation analysis of the coercivity as a function of temperature allowed us to compare the rapidly annealed and 20 min annealed samples. This analysis suggests that rapid annealing gives higher quality crystalline grains than the 20 min annealed sample leading to the observed large coercivity in the rapidly annealed samples.     

Effect of thickness on the microstructure and soft magnetic properties of CoFeHfO thin films

The thickness effects on the microstructure and soft magnetic properties of CoFeHfO thin films have been investigated in the range of 100–600 nm. There was a significant change in the coercivity (H_c) and the anisotropy (H_k) value with increasing film thickness, but the saturation induction and the resistivity almost remain unchanged. H_c and H_k reached a minimum value of 0.19 Oe and a maximum value of 50 Oe, respectively at 200 nm film thickness. The high saturation magnetic induction is 21 kG and resistivity is 500 μΩ cm. The origin of the changing H_c and H_k values is discussed in detail based on change of microstructure along with film thickness.     

溅射功率对Fe-Si-B-Nb-Cu薄膜微结构与磁性的影响

通过射频磁控溅射法制备了Fe_Si_B_Nb_Cu薄膜，采用x射线衍射与Mssb auer谱相结合分析了薄膜的微结构形态，研究了不同溅射功率对薄膜微结构的影响.其结果 表明：在较低溅射功率密度下，薄膜为无定型结构；随着溅射功率密度升高，沉积薄膜无需 热处理，便呈现出晶态和非晶态的混合相结构，晶态为纳米级的α_Fe(Si)和α_Fe(B)固溶 体；α_Fe(Si)相和α_Fe(B)相的体积分数、微结构组态、磁矩取向及宏观磁性能均随着溅 射功率的变化而变化. 关键词： 溅射功率 Fe_Si_B_Nb_Cu合金 薄膜微结构 磁矩取向     

Magnetic properties of Fe/Nd artificial superstructure films

Multilayered films with artificial superstructures were prepared by alternately depositing Fe and Nd in ultrahigh vacuum. The magnetic properties are studied from⁵⁷Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy. The hyperfine field in Fe layers and the direction of Fe magnetic moments depend on the Fe and Nd layer thicknesses. For films with certain Fe and Nd layer thicknesses, the direction of Fe magnetic moments is in-plane at 300 K but changes to be perpendicular at low temperatures. The direction of Fe magnetic moments is discussed in relation with the magnetization of interface Nd atoms.     

Structure, microstructure and photoluminescence properties of Fe doped SnO2 thin films

In this paper, effects of Fe doping on crystallinity, microstructure and photoluminescence (PL) properties of sol-gel derived SnO₂ thin films are reported. It is shown that doping of Fe³⁺ ions leads to crystallite size reduction and higher strain in SnO₂ thin films. The room temperature PL spectra show marked changes in intensity and blue-shift of the emission lines upon Fe doping. These observations have been correlated with structural changes and defect chemistry of Fe doped SnO₂ thin films.     

Interface mediated control of microstructure and magnetic properties of FePt-C thin films

The microstructure and magnetic properties of FePt-C film deposited on the MgO/CrRu underlayer are studied in lieu of carbon doping in FePt and RF biasing assisted etching of the MgO underlayer. Increasing amounts of carbon doping in the FePt deteriorates the chemical ordering as a result of reduced kinetic energy of FePt adatoms due to frequent collision with carbon adatoms. This leads to a reduction in the magnetocrystalline anisotropy energy and hence the coercivity. RF etching of the MgO/CrRu underlayer before deposition of FePt helps to reduce the grain size and intergranular exchange interaction without adversely affecting the chemical ordering. Reduced intergranular exchange interaction leads to an increase in the coercivity.     

Nd28Fe66B6/Fe50Co50双层纳米复合膜的结构和磁性

利用磁控溅射法制备了Nd28F66B6/Fe50Co50双层纳米复合磁性薄膜,研究了其结构和磁性.经873K退火处理15min后,利用x射线衍射仪测定薄膜晶体结构,采用俄歇电子能谱仪估算薄膜厚度和超导量子干涉仪测量其磁性.磁性测量表明,1)该系列薄膜具有垂直于膜面的磁各向异性.从起始磁化曲线和小回线的形状特征可知,矫顽力机制主要是由畴壁钉扎控制.2)对于固定厚度(10nm)层的硬磁相Nd-Fe-B和不同厚度(dFeCo=1-100nm)层软磁相FeCo双层纳米复合膜,剩磁随软磁相FeCo厚度的增加快速增加,而矫顽力则减少.当dFeCo=5nm时,最大磁能积达到160×103A/m.磁滞回线的单一硬磁相特征说明,硬磁相Nd-Fe-B层和软磁相FeCo层之间的相互作用使两相很好地耦合在一起.剩磁和磁能积的提高是由于两相磁性交换耦合所致.     

强磁场对不同厚度Fe80Ni20薄膜的微观结构及磁性能的影响

有无6 T强磁场条件下利用分子束气相沉积方法制备了不同厚度的Fe₈₀Ni₂₀薄膜. 研究发现, 薄膜的面内矫顽力随厚度增加而降低且符合Neel理论; 矩形比随厚度的增加先快速增大后缓慢降低; 6 T磁场抑制了颗粒团聚及异常长大, 并降低了薄膜表面的粗糙度, 这使薄膜的矫顽力要小于无磁场作用的薄膜, 矩形比大于无磁场作用的薄膜; 而且薄膜在垂直于基片表面的6 T磁场作用下由0 T下的面内磁各向异性转变为磁各向同性. 关键词： 强磁场 气相沉积 微观结构 磁性能     

Effect of Co underlayer on soft magnetic properties and microstructure of FeCo thin films

High saturation magnetization soft magnetic FeCo (=Fe₆₅Co₃₅) films were prepared using a thin Co underlayer. The FeCo/Co films exhibited a well-defined in-plane uniaxial anisotropy with easy axis coercivity (H_ce) of 10 Oe and hard axis coercivity (H_ch) of 3 Oe, and a half reduction of H_c with H_ce=4.8 Oe and H_ch=1.0 Oe was obtained when the composition was adjusted to 25 at% Co. The effective permeability of the films remains flat around 250 to 800 MHz. The saturation magnetostriction was 5.2×10⁻⁵ and the intrinsic stress was 0.8 GPa in FeCo single layer, both were slightly reduced by Co underlayer. The Co underlayer changed the preferred orientation of the FeCo films from (2 0 0) to (1 1 0) but more significantly, reduced the average grain size from ∼74 to ∼8.2 nm. It also reduced the surface roughness from 2.351 to 0.751 nm. The initial stage and interface diffusion properties were examined by TEM and XPS.     

Structure and magnetic properties of Fe/Cu multilayered films

Mutually insoluble Fe/Cu multilayered films prepared by a dc-magnetron sputtering system with a rotating substrate-holder have been studied. The periodicity of the multilayers was confirmed by X-ray diffraction. The results of magnetization measurements and Mössbauer spectroscopy at 300 and 77 K show that the samples with the Fe layer thinner than 9 Å exhibit superparamagnetism. The temperature dependence of the spontaneous magnetization follows Bloch's law for all samples, with the spin-wave temperature coefficient B inversely proportional to the thickness of the Fe layer. The results of torque measurements show that the magnetization is normal to the film plane for the samples with the Fe layer thinner than 6 Å.