Ion bombardment effect on preferred orientation in Ni–Fe film formed by ion beam sputtering

Abstract

This paper reports on the results of experimental investigation into the preferred orientation of Ni–Fe film formed by ion beam sputtering. Through experiments concerning ion bombardment and substrate temperature, argon ion bombardment is found to increase the amount of the (111) crystal texture in addition to contributing to the texture orientation itself. In terms of film morphology, the fracture cross section indicates a more obvious columnar structure with the film surface becoming slightly rougher as the amount of argon ion bombardment increases. Conversely, nitrogen and oxygen-mixed ion bombardment weakens the (111) preferred orientation, and the effect becomes more notable when the ion has a higher energy. On the other hand, although the substrate temperature increase makes the (111) texture better oriented, the amount of the crystal texture becomes smaller due to this temperature increase. Additionally, the observed lattice distortion corresponds well to that estimated by the internal stress.