Magnetic properties of Y-Fe films sputtered with substrate bias

Abstract

YFe sputtered films were investigated to clarify the behavior of Fe-Fe interaction. The efect of compositional inhomogeneity on Fe magnetism was also investigated using bias-sputtered YFe films. Amorphous YFe films indicate the spin-glass like characteristics, that is, their magnetization is hard to saturate for applied magnetic field even at low temperature because of the non-collinear alignment of the Fe moment. The application of the substrate bias voltage causes the preferential resputtering of Y and Fe-rich phase. Fe-rich phase eliminates the spin-glass like nature and the magnetically ordered state can be observed.