Thickness dependence of surface roughness and magnetic properties of FeNiCr thin films

Abstract

In order to apply FeNiCr ternary alloy thin films for magnetic machine-readable devices, the thickness effects on the surface roughness and magnetic properties of these films have been studied. The surface roughness of FeNiCr increased from 0.77nm to a maximum value of 2.16nm as the film thickness was increased from 33 to 103nm, and then decreased to 1.75nm as the film thickness was further increased to 189nm. The coercivity of FeNiCr films changes with the film thickness in a similar way as surface roughness. The in-plane coercivity of FeNiCr increased from 27.3Oe to a maximum value of 60.1Oe as the film thickness was increased from 33 to 103nm, and then decreased to 10.4Oe as the film thickness was further increased to 189nm.