DEPENDENCE OF MAGNETOSTRICTION OF SPUTTERED TB-FE FILMS ON PREPARATION CONDITIONS

Amorphous Tb-Fe thin films prepared by sputtering method in the compos itional range TbxFe1-x (x=0-0.5) have been investigated in view of the ir potential for use in electromagnetic thin film actuators. We examin ed the magnetostriction and the coercive force for the Tb-Fe films for different sputtering conditions to obtain both soft magnetic properti es and large magnetostriction in this system. As a result, we obtained Tb-Fe thin films having large magnetostrictions (180X(10-6) at 1kOe) and low coercive force (60-70 Oe). These films were prepared under the conditions of the composition of 45-50at%Tb, Ar gas pressure of 4mTor r, rf input power of 200W and using water cooled substrates. A trial a ctuator using magnetostrictive thin films is also reported.