Role of low substrate temperature deposition on Co–Fe thin films

Abstract

This paper presents the role of the conventional and Soliton wave model deposition at low substrate temperature (300–100 K) on the structural, electric and magnetic properties of Co35Fe65 thin films deposited by thermal evaporation using bulk polycrystalline Co35Fe65 alloy. On account of obtaining superior quality magnetic thin films without any high temperature growth processes or heat treatment, the Soliton wave growth model at suitable low temperature range is used. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) techniques are employed to investigate the various structural properties. Morphological and structural analyses of entire 30 nm Co35Fe65 thin films deposited on Si (100) substrate reveal that the stoichiometry is preserved over the whole temperature deposition and BCC crystalline formed with (110) texture. To attain the electrical and magnetic properties, resistivity and vibrating-sample magnetometer (VSM) measurements are evaluated. Soliton wave model deposition significantly increased magnetic anisotropy constant K1 = 0.105 Merg/cm3, MR/MS = 0.83 and coercivity HC = 272 Oe at 300 K when the compared to conventional deposition range in this work (K1 = 0.014 Merg/cm3, MR/MS = 0.6 and HC = 50 Oe). Growth with novel approach of Co35Fe65 thin films highlights the reasonable low coercivity, the high saturation magnetization, the high magnetic anisotropy and the low electrical resistivity values, with tailored grain size, make them feasible to use in magnetic sensor technology in the near future.