GROWTH-CHARACTERISTICS AND MAGNETIC-PROPERTIES OF SPUTTERED ND-FE-B THIN-FILMS

Thin Nd-Fe-B films (200 to 2000 nm) with good hard magnetic properties have been produced bl magnetron sputtering in UHV. We have investigat ed the influence of substrate temperature and sputtering gas pressure on the structural and magnetic properties of the films. It was found t hat the composition of the films strongly depends on the argon pressur e. This gives us the possibility to vary the Nd content in the range o f 13 to 32 at%. Highly textured films can be produced at low gas press ure (0.03 mbar) and low substrate temperatures (approximate to 675 K). Thee films exhibit a low coercivity (100 to 300 kA/m) and low remanen ce, but have a high saturation polarization of about 1.5 T, measured v ertical to the film plane. High coercive films (H-cj = 800-1200 kA/m) with a remanence of about 1.05 T can be achieved through sputtering at high argon pressures (0.1 to 0.2 mbar) and a substrate temperature in the range of 800 to 900 K.