Incident angle effects on microstructure and magnetic properties of Fe-Nb thin films using IBAD

The effects of the incident angle on the microstructure and magnetic properties of Fe-Nb thin films grown by Ar ion beam assisted deposition have been investigated. A new metastable crystalline bcc phase and an amorphous phase were obtained at 45° ion incident angle, while a mixture of bcc Nb and bcc Fe was formed under the incident angles of the assisting ion beam of 30° and 60°. The difference caused by the variation of incident angle is discussed on the basis of energy transfer and competition between the effects of surface energy and ion beam channeling.