Surface characteristics of Ni–Ga–Fe sputtered thin films

Chemical composition and surface morphology of Ni–Ga–Fe thin films grown under various sputtering powers and argon gas pressures by r.f. magnetron sputtering technique are studied. X-ray fluorescence results show that the sputtering power has obvious effect on the chemical composition of Ni–Ga–Fe thin films. The argon gas pressure has little effect on the composition of Ni–Ga–Fe thin films. The change in surface morphology of Ni–Ga–Fe films is discussed in terms of root-mean-square (rms) surface roughness values. The grain size and the rms of Ni–Ga–Fe thin films increase with the increase of sputtering power and argon gas pressure. The film deposited at room temperature has a cubic L21 structure and the annealed film shows martensitic structure.