Evolutions of different crystalline textures in Sm-Fe film fabricated under high magnetic field and subsequent tuning magnetic properties

Abstract

In order to tune the crystalline texture evolution and magnetic properties of the Sm-Fe film, molecular beam vapor deposition method is used to fabricate the Sm-Fe films. Sm content, thickness, and high magnetic field are used to affect the crystalline texture and magnetic properties. X-ray diffraction is used to analyze the texture evolution. Atomic force microscope is used to observe the surface morphology and roughness. Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy is used to measure the compositions of the film. Vibrating sample magnetometer is used to test the magnetic properties. The results show that the crystalline textures are tuned through the Sm content. The crystalline texture evolution and high magnetic field have significant effect on the magnetic properties of the Sm-Fe film. The Sm-Fe film with 5.8% atomic content is of bcc crystal structure and is of amorphous structure with 33.0% Sm. Neither the thickness nor the high magnetic field has an influence on the crystalline texture. The surface roughness and particle size on the surface of the amorphous film are smaller than those of the crystal film. A 6 T high magnetic field increases the surface particle size and reduces the surface roughness. Saturation magnetization Ms of the amorphous film is 47.6% lower than that of the crystal film (1466 emu/cm3, 1 emu/cm3=410-10 T). The 6 T high magnetic field reduces the Ms of crystal and amorphous film by about 50%. The coercivity Hc values of the Sm-Fe films are in a range of 6-130 Oe (1 Oe=103/(4) A/m). The Hc of the amorphous film is higher than that of the crystal film. The 6 T high magnetic field increases the Hc of the crystal film and reduces the Hc of the amorphous film. The highest reduction is 95%. The anisotropy of the crystal film transforms to isotropy of the amorphous film. High magnetic field increases the anisotropy of the crystal film. The squareness of the crystal film is much higher than that of the amorphous film. High magnetic field has a significant effect on the measured magnetic field to obtain saturation magnetization in the film. This measured saturation magnetic field increases in the amorphous film and decreases in the crystal film after the high magnetic field has been exerted during the film growth. These results indicate that the Sm content and high magnetic field can be used to tune the crystal textures and magnetic properties of the Sm-Fe films.