Magnetic properties of as-sputtered Co-Ni-Fe alloy films

Abstract

The magnetic properties of CoNiFe films were systematically investigated over a wide composition range of 17.4-76.4 at% Co, 5.8-30.9 at% Ni and 16.2-70.5 at% Fe. The films were fabricated by RF magnetron sputtering using a composite target. The saturation magnetization and the coercivity of as-sputtered Co23.8Ni29.3Fe46.9 and Co57.8Ni14.6Fe27.6 films are 20, 20kG and 1.8,3 Oe, respectively. Especially, the effective permeability of those films is about 1000, and maintains up to 100 MHz, which shows that the high frequency characteristics of sputtered CoNiFe films are better than those of electroplated films. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.