Effect of composition on crystalline texture and magnetic properties of Nd 2Fe 14B thin films

Abstract

NdFeB magnetic thin films have been directly fabricated onto heated quartz substrates by RF sputtering. The crystallographic texture, microstructure, phase composition, and magnetic properties of the films are investigated using XRD, SEM, EDAX, and VSM. The films consist of tetragonal Nd 2Fe 14B and Nd-rich phases, and present high anisotropy. For the films with relatively low Fe content, the c-axis alignment is basically isotropic. The alignment appears to be highly anisotropic and tends to switch to a direction perpendicular to the plane with increasing Fe content. The maximum coercivity of 0.73 T is obtained in the film plane, whereas the maximum saturation magnetization of 1.35 T is obtained in the direction perpendicular to the film plane. These results indicate that the phase composition greatly affects the crystalline texture and magnetic properties.