Deposition pressure and rate effects on the microstructure and magnetic properties of sputtered tape media

Sputtered magnetic tape media were prepared by DC magnetron sputtering on polyimide substrates at different deposition conditions. The structure, texture and magnetic properties of the sputtered films were systematically studied using transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and alternating gradient magnetometer. The microstructure of sputtered media is greatly influenced by the deposition conditions, such as deposition pressure and rate. High sputtering pressure and slow deposition rate produced high coercivity and low delta M films. The sputtered tape media have the desired grain segregation structure which is essential for low-noise media fabrication. X-ray diffraction analysis revealed that the stress of film is closely related to the deposition pressure. The stress of the film stack can be tuned for specific applications and good magnetic properties can be obtained under optimized deposition condition.