COLUMNAR STRUCTURES IN FE-BASED METALLIC MULTILAYERS PREPARED WITH THE FACING-TARGET-TYPE DC SPUTTERING METHOD

Structural features of Fe films and Fe-based multilayers with Ag, Cu, Cr and Mo sublayers were investigated; we focused on structural featur es such as the asymmetric shape and the alignment of the columns in th e film plane. As a result, common structural features were found to be related to factors such as the substrate temperatures, the melting po ints of the elements concerned with surface diffusion, and the inciden t directions of the sputtered particles to the substrate originating f rom the arrangement of the targets. In the case of multilayers, such s tructural features were found to vary depending on combinations of the metal elements and the thickness ratios of the constituent sublayers.