Investigation of RF-sputtered Fe-Ta-N thin films

The nanocrystallite Fe-Ta-N thin films with high Ta content were prepared b y RF reactive sputtering. The dependence of structure and magnetic properti es on nitrogen partial pressure P(N-2) and annealing temperature T-an were investigated by XRD, TEM and VSM. It is found that the deposited films in t he mixture gas of Ar + N-2 consist of amorphous, after annealing nanocrysta llite of alpha-Fe crystallized from the amorphous. The films are deposited in low nitrogen partial pressure show excellent soft magnetism. It means th at controlled crystallization of amorphous is an effective method to prepar e nanocrystallite soft magnetic alloy thin films. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.