STRUCTURAL AND MAGNETIC-PROPERTIES OF COFE ALLOY-FILMS

The investigation of the structural and magnetic properties of bcc Co1 -xFex (0.1<x<0.4) alloy films prepared on MgO(001) substrates using e- beam evaporation and pulsed laser ablation deposition (PLAD) methods i s reported. Both structural and magnetic properties seem to be strongl y correlated to the deposition conditions, i.e., substrate temperature s (T-s) and deposition rates (DR). To identify the stability limits of the bcc structure in the phase diagram, our study is limited to the G o-rich compounds. For x greater than or equal to 0.3 at high T-s (500 degrees C), alloy films deposited by e-beam evaporation exhibit a bcc (001) growth, showing the magnetic anisotropy with easy axis parallel to the MgO [100] crystal axis. In the PLAD technique, the excellent bc e (001) film growth is observed at T-s=300 degrees C for x=0.25 which is close to the concentration limit of the bcc regime in the equilibri um bulk phase diagram, whereas the same compound films deposited at hi gh T-s reveal the mixed phase of fee (001) and bcc (001) structures. M agnetic hysteresis measurements of the film grown by the PLAD techniqu e exhibit similar results to those of the films deposited by e-beam ev aporation. These results show that, for the well-crystallized films wi th a bcc (001) texture, the magnetocrystalline anisotropy develops in- plane. (C) 1997 American Institute of Physics.