Soft Magnetic Properties of Fe-Ti-N Alloy Thin Films

Abstract

The dependences of magnetic properties of Fe-N and Fe-Ti-N thin films on nitrogen partial pressure over total sputtering pressure ( PN2 / PTotai ) were studied, and the effect of annealing on Fe-Ti-N thin films was investigated. Thin films were prepared with a dc magnetron reactive sputtering apparatus, using a composite type of target. The coercivity of Fe-Ti-N films was smaller than that of Fe-N films when PN2 / PTotai was more than 1% . The minimum value of the coercivity for Fe-Ti-N films was 2.3 Oe in the easy magnetization direction and 1.25 Oe in the hard magnetization direction when PN2 / PTotai was 2.5%, while it was 4.5 Oe for Fe-N films when PN2 / PTotai was 1%. Annealing at 400°C minimized the coercivity of the Fe-Ti-N film at 1.3 Oe in the easy magnetization direction and 0.9 Oe in the hard magnetization direction.