rf-sputtered Sm-Co films: Phase stability and magnetic properties

Abstract

We have rf-sputtered films of the Sm-Co system for the composition region near the 1–5 and 2–17 compounds. The sputtering target arrangement was such that a range of compositions was deposited along the length of the substrates. The substrate temperature was varied for different runs from room temperature, in which case amorphous film could be synthesized, to 1000 °C. Magnetization measurements of crystalline films sputtered onto heated substrates exhibit increasing remanence and decreasing coercivity as the film composition varies from the SmCo5 to the Sm2Co17 regions. Magnetization as a function of orientation and x-ray data indicate that the c axis, which in this case is the easy direction of magnetization, lies near or in the plane of the film for these samples. The variation of the magnetization for different magnetizing fields indicates that the coercivity is controlled both by domain wall-pinning and by nucleation mechanisms.