The effect of impurity gas on Mo-Cu-permalloy films prepared by RF sputtering

The dependence of Mo-Cu-Permalloy films on the depostion parameters in rf diode sputtering has been investigated. It was found that soft magnetism of Mo-Cu-Permalloy films depended strongly on the background pressure Pbbefore sputtering, argon gas pressure, PArduring deposition, and the power density. The films deposited at high PArwere contaminated with oxygen and presented clear columnar texture. They, therefore, exhibited rotatable anisotropy and did not have soft magnetism. Films with excellent soft magnetic properties have been prepared at low PArand high power density. Typical magnetic properties of rf sputtered Mo -Cu-Permalloy film deposited at PArof 2.2 mTorr and power density of 3.3 W/cm²were as follows ; 20 mOe in coercivity, 7.5 kGauss in 4πMs, 1500 in effective permeability at 1 MHz and 750 in Vickers hardness.