Influence of H2 Partial Pressure on Sputtered TbFeCo Films

The effect of H2 partial pressure on TbFeCo films was studied and it was found that increasing the H2 partial pressure lowers both Hc (changing the magnetic anisotropy from perpendicular to in-plane), and the film deposition rate, while increasing Ms to a value approaching that of FeCo films. The various ion currents in the plasma increased until the H2 partial pressure reached 1 × 10^¿4 torr and this agreed with changes in the film deposition rate.