Fe-Cr-N soft magnetic thin films

Soft magnetic properties of new Fe-Cr-N and Fe-Cr-Ta-N alloy films have been investigated. Thin films with compositions in the range of Fe-2 similar to 8% Cr-0 similar to 1% Ta-5 similar to 15% N (in at. %) were prepared by reactive sputtering in a nitrogen-containing atmosphere. The films, most likely nanocrystalline, exhibit excellent soft magnetic properties in the as-deposited condition without any post heat treatment, e.g., H-c similar to 1-2 Oe (79.4-158.8 A/m) and 4 pi M-s similar to 15-20 kG. The easy-axis M-H loop is square. The hard-axis loop is linear and closed, with the anisotropy field H-a=20-60 Oe (1.59-4.77 kA/m). The combination of high 4 pi M-s and relatively high H-a in these films is conducive to the suppression of the undesirable ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) interference up to the GHz frequency range. (C) 1997 American Institute of Physics.