Microstructural, electrical and magnetic properties of Fe35Co65 thin films grown by thermal evaporation from mechanically alloyed powders

• Mechanical alloying process and thermal evaporation to deposit thin film
• The films were homogeneous and smooth and the stoichiometry of the powder was conserved.
• Thin films show high saturation magnetization and low coercivity simultaneously.

We demonstrate the efficiency of a method for high magnetization alloy deposition, using thermal evaporation of a nanocrystalline mixture prepared by mechanical alloying process using high energy ball milling. A detailed study of the stoichiometry, microstructural, electrical and magnetic properties of the obtained Fe35Co65 thin films is reported. Good homogeneity, purity and stoichiometry were demonstrated in the powder composed of 25 nm mean crystallite size. Microstructural analysis of thin films ranging from 9 to 50 nm deposited on Si (001) shows that the stoichiometry of the evaporated nanocrystalline mixture is conserved over the whole thickness range and that (110) texture forms as the film thickness increases. High saturation magnetization, good hysteresis squareness and high electrical resistivity FeCo thin films could be achieved by thermal evaporation from properly set mechanically alloyed powders.