Co-Zr-O nano-granular thin films with improved high frequency soft magnetic properties

A study was made of the properties and structure of Co-Zr-O nano-granular f ilms prepared by rf reactive sputtering in an atmosphere of argon and oxyge n gases. We found soft magnetic Co-Zr-O films in a wide compositional range near Co-ZrO2 and investigated systematically the compositional dependence of their magnetic properties and electrical resistivity. The films near Co6 0Zr10O30 simultaneously have anisotropy fields more than 150 Oe, coerciviti es less than 3 Oe, saturation magnetizations more than 9 kG, and electrical resistivities more than 1000 mu Ohm cm. The frequency response of permeabi lity of these films is excellent, and they show a high resonance frequency exceeding 3 GHz.