Dependence on Sputtering Conditions for a Tb-Co Magneto-Optical Thin Film

TbCo films were prepared by simultaneous magnetron Co-sputtering. The influences of the sputtering conditions on the density and magneto-optical properties were studied. Sputtering conditions such as substrate rotating speed, substrate bias voltage, Ar pressure, and film deposition rate were studied. Increasing the bias voltage or Ar pressure decreased the density of the TbCo film. This indicates that the incident energy and/or density of Ar ions and/or atoms affect the porosity of the film. This could be closely related to the magneto-optical properties of the film.