Tuning the magnetic properties of FeCo by pulsed DC magnetron sputtering

Abstract

We report a comparison of the magnetic properties of Fe₅₃CO₄₇ grown with DC and pulsed DC (PDC) sputtering sources. While no remarkable differences concerning the structure and composition are found, films grown using the PDC source exhibit reduced coercivity by several times compared to the samples grown using the DC source under similar conditions. In addition, PDC films exhibit hard axis rocking effects and a better defined anisotropy axis. By means of EXAFS, we have measured the atomic distances in the FeCo matrix and bcc-Co clusters. We show that the small changes within the FeCo matrix are directly related to the reduction in coercivity. The tuning of these properties by simply choosing the source or the power opens a simple path to tailor the magnetic properties.