Abstract
A growing variety of microelectronic devices and magnetic field sensors as well as a trend of miniaturization demands the development of low-dimensional magnetic materials and nanostructures. Among them, soft magnetic thin films of Finemet alloys are appropriate materials for sensor and actuator devices. Therefore, one of the important directions of the research is the optimization of thin film magnetic properties. In this study, the structural transformations of the Fe73.5Nb3Cu1Si13.5B9 and Fe72.5Nb1.5Mo2Cu1.1Si14.2B8.7 films of 100, 150 and 200 nm thicknesses were comparatively analyzed together with their magnetic properties and magnetic anisotropy. The thin films were prepared using the ion-plasma sputtering technique. The crystallization process was studied by certified X-ray diffraction (XRD) methods. The kinetics of crystallization was observed due to the temperature X-ray diffraction (TDX) analysis. Magnetic properties of the films were studied by the magneto-optical Kerr microscopy. Based on the TDX data the delay of the onset crystallization of the films with its thickness decreasing was shown. Furthermore, the onset crystallization of the 150 and 200 nm films began at the temperature of about 400–420 °C showing rapid grain growth up to the size of 16–20 nm. The best magnetic properties of the films were formed after crystallization after the heat treatment at 350–400 °C when the stress relaxation took place.
Highlights
Amorphous and nanocrystalline soft magnetic (SM) alloys are important materials attracting both applied and fundamental interest
Comparison of the structural states of Fe73.5 Nb3 Cu1 Si13.5 B9 and Fe72.5 Nb1.5 Mo2 Cu1.1 Si14.2 B8.7 thin films with the thickness of 200 nm shows that coarser grains were formed in the NbMo-doped case
In addition to the contribution of the preparation conditions and initially different structural states, partial replacement of niobium by molybdenum led to the grain size increase
Summary
Amorphous and nanocrystalline soft magnetic (SM) alloys are important materials attracting both applied and fundamental interest. The main property of soft ferromagnets is a low value of coercivity (HC ). The low HC level, as well as high values of a saturation induction and a relative magnetic permeability, identify the SM alloys application prospects in electric motors, transformers and highly sensitive magnetic field detectors [1,2,3]. Materials 2020, 13, 348 with respect to external applied magnetic field and very good time stability in certain conditions in comparison with amorphous alloys [5]. Among the soft magnetic materials alloys based on the Fe–M–Cu–Si–B system, where M is a transition metal, which is one of the most well-known [6,7,8,9].
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