Effect of Magnetic Annealing on the Structure and Magnetic Properties of Highly Resistive Co-Based Films.

Abstract

This paper studies the effect of magnetic field annealing on the structure and properties of highly electrically resistive Co-based soft magnetic films, prepared by RF reactive magnetron sputtering with (N₂+Ar) gases. After annealing near 300°C in a static magnetic field, Co-Al-N films whose nitrogen content is lower than their Al content exhibit almost exactly the calculated μ-f characteristics. TEM observation reveals that these films are granular with a very fine network structure, which has a considerable number of connections among granules. With increasing nitrogen content, the size of the granules decreases, and the intergranule composition approaches that of AlN. It follows that improved μ-f characteristics can be obtained in Co-Al-N film of an appropriate composition and structure.