Materials by design: Effect of deposition temperature on the magnetic properties of FeZrN

FeN materials exhibiting high moment, low coercivity and small magnetostriction have previously been reported. Zr has been known to reduce the magnetostriction in other Fe alloys. The criteria for an ideal recording head pole material as well as shields for magnetoresistive sensors include high moment, low coercivity, high permeability and zero magnetostriction. Prior work indicated that FeZrN has potential for the above application. The effect of deposition temperature on the magnetic properties of the films is explored in this work. The properties of 0.4 μm thick FeZrN films as a function of the deposition temperature is reported in this work. The films were deposited at a pressure of 3 mTorr using a sputtering system. The target was composed of Fe with Zr chips covering approximately 2% of the surface area. The temperature was measured using a Chromel-Alumel type K thermometer mounted on a removable substrate table and RF shielded via a braided stainless steel sheath. The temperature was varied between 120 and 350 °C using a tungsten heater built into the sputtering table.