JPH07166338A - Nigh strength sintered target material for magnetron sputtering - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To produce a high strength sintered target material for magnetron sputtering by preparing a sintered target material consisting of a coating metal such as Cr, a rare earth metal such as Tb and an iron family metal such as Fe and having a specified compsn., a specified structure and a specified theoretical density ratio. CONSTITUTION:A target material having a compsn. consisting of 0.1-10wt.% Cr, Ti, Nb, Mo or Ta as a coating metal, 30-50wt.% rare earth metal (one or more among Tb, Gd, Dy, Ho, Tm and Er) and the balance iron family metal (one or more among Fe, Ni and Co) is prepd. This target material has a structure consisting of a coexistent phase of the iron family metal and a rare earth metal-iron family metal intermetallic compd., a coating metallic phase coating the surface of the coexistent phase and a rare earth metallic phase and the theoretical density ratio of the target material is increased to >=90% by sintering at a high temp. The objective high strength sintered target material useful for magnetron sputtering is obtd.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a high-strength sintered target material used for forming a magneto-optical recording thin film by magnetron sputtering.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, many sintered target materials have been used in forming a magneto-optical recording thin film by a magnetron sputtering method. Among these many sintered target materials, iron group metal and rare earth metal- A sintered target material composed of a coexisting phase of an iron group metal with an intermetallic compound and a rare earth metal phase is known as described in, for example, JP-A-4-365860.

[0003]

In the above-mentioned conventional sintering target material, the sintering temperature cannot be raised too high in order to suppress the reaction between the coexisting phase and the rare earth metal phase during sintering. As a result, since the density of the target material cannot be improved, the strength of the target material must be insufficient.

[0004]

Means for Solving the Problems As a result of various researches conducted by the present inventors to solve the problems of the above-mentioned conventional sintered target material for magnetron sputtering, the present inventors have found that they coexist in the above-mentioned sintered target material for magnetron sputtering. The surface of the phase is made of Cr, Ti, Nb, Mo and Ta.
Assuming that the tissue is covered with a metal that consists of
In the resulting target material, the reaction of the coexisting phase and the rare earth metal phase during sintering is suppressed by the coating metal phase even after high-temperature sintering. It was obtained the research result that the structure was present together with the coated metal phase, and that the high temperature sintering resulted in a high density of 90% or more in theoretical density ratio, that is, a high strength.

Next, the reason why the composition of the sintered target material of the present invention is set as above will be described. (A) Rare earth metal When the ratio of the rare earth metal in the target is less than 30% by weight or exceeds 50% by weight, satisfactory magneto-optical properties cannot be obtained in the formed thin film. ~
It was set at 50%.

(B) Coated metal The coated metal has an action of suppressing the reaction between the coexisting phase and the rare earth metal in the high temperature sintering as described above, but its weight% is 0.1%.
If it is less than 1%, the desired result cannot be obtained, while if it exceeds 10%, the magneto-optical properties of the formed thin film are adversely affected.
I decided.

[0007]

EXAMPLES Next, the sintering target material of the present invention will be specifically described by way of examples. Each of the coexisting phase forming powders A ′ to G ′ having the average particle diameter of 100 μm and the composition shown in Table 1 and the coexisting phase forming powders A ′ to G ′ is also shown in Table 1. Surface coating coexisting phase forming powders A to G and a rare earth metal powder shown in Table 2 prepared by sputtering a metal in a ratio are prepared. After mixing for 5 hours, the sintered target material 1 of the present invention 1 is hot-pressed in a vacuum atmosphere under the conditions of temperature: 1000 ° C. to 1200 ° C., pressure: 300 kg / cm 2, time: 1 hour. ~ 7 were produced respectively.

For the purpose of comparison, as shown in Table 2, the coexisting phase forming powders A'-G 'and the rare earth metal powder are used, and the temperature: 900 in a vacuum atmosphere for the purpose of suppressing the reaction between the raw material powders. Conventional sintered target materials 1 to 7 were manufactured under the conditions of ℃, pressure: 300 kg / cm 2, time: 30 minutes.

Then, the theoretical density ratio and the transverse rupture strength of the various sintered target materials obtained as a result were measured. The measurement results are shown in Table 2.

[0010]

From the results shown in Table 2, the sintered target materials 1 to 7 of the present invention can be sintered at high temperature due to the presence of the coating metal phase, and have high density and high strength. It is clear that the conventional sintering target materials 1 to 7 have relatively low density and strength because they have to be sintered at low temperature in order to suppress the reaction.

As described above, the sintered target material of the present invention has a structure in which both the coexisting phase and the rare earth metal phase are present and has a high strength. It has industrially useful properties such that a thin film having the properties can be formed, handling is easy, and a large area can be achieved.

[0012]

[Table 1]

[0013]

[Table 2]

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Hitoshi Maruyama 1-297 Kitabukurocho, Omiya City, Saitama Prefecture Mitsubishi Materials Corporation Central Research Laboratory

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A composition comprising, by weight, one of Cr, Ti, Nb, Mo and Ta, a coating metal: 0.1 to 10%, a rare earth metal: 30 to 50%, and an iron group metal: balance. And a coexisting phase of an iron group metal and an intermetallic compound of a rare earth metal-iron group metal, the coating metal phase coating the surface of the coexisting phase, and a structure consisting of a rare earth metal phase, and 90% or more of A high-strength sintered target material for magnetron sputtering, which has a theoretical density ratio. 2. The rare earth metal is Tb, Gd, Dy, H.
The magnetron sputter according to claim 1, wherein the magnetron sputter is made of one or more of o, Tm and Er, and the iron group metal is made of one or more of Fe, Ni and Co. High-strength sintered target material for tarring.