MAGNETIC-PROPERTIES AND STRUCTURE OF A NEW MULTILAYER [FETAN TAN](N) FOR RECORDING-HEADS/

In this article, the structure and soft magnetic properties of [FeTaN/ TaN](n) multilayers have been studied. Best multilayer films have coer civity of 1.2 Oe, which is further decreased to 0.5 Oe by annealing up to 400 degrees C, The saturation magnetization is 19.5 kG. The initia l permeability of multilayer films is 1200 and is constant up to 100 M Hz. A predominant alpha-Fe(110) texture is observed by x-ray diffracti on patterns and Mossbauer spectra (MS), but a small amount of ferromag netic epsilon-FexN (x greater than or equal to 3) and paramagnetic eps ilon-FexN (2<x<3) phases are identified by MS, which may account for t he relatively large magnetostriction (similar to 5X10(-6)). The temper ature dependence of MS and x-ray show good thermal stability up to 430 degrees C. (C) 1997 American Institute of Physics.