High-energy product Sm-Co-based sputtered films, crystal texturing, and magnetic properties

Abstract

Sm-Co-based sputtered films have been deposited that exhibit a remanence ratio for hysteresis loops measured out of the plane to in the plane of 0.04. These results have been obtained by thermalized sputtering this system in Ar, Ar+Xe mixtures, and in Xe. The use of Xe has allowed a more efficient thermalization of the massive Sm atoms so that a lower total pressure can be used than if Ar were used alone. The use of Ar-Xe mixtures as the sputtering gas has allowed high-energy product Sm2(Co, Fe, Cu, Zr)17 films with the TbCu7-type crystal structure to be obtained over a much wider range of substrate temperatures and sputtering pressures than has been possible for films sputtered only in Ar. Films sputtered in Ar will show a perpendicular to the in-plane remanence ratio of 0.36 vs 0.04 for Xe. The slope of the hysteresis loops was nearly linear from +18 to −4.5 kOe with values of −0.7%/kOe for the Xe films and a value of −1.2%/kOe for the Ar films. All of these films were directly crystallized onto heated substrates, which is necessary to control the crystal texturing.