JPS61234510A - Soft magnetic thin film - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable the thin film whose composition is expressed by FeaGabGec and which has the soft magnetic characteristic of the same degree as Sendust alloy and the remarkably high saturated magnetic flux density by specifying a range of the above composition. CONSTITUTION:The composition is expressed by FeaGabGec (wherein a.b. and c show the composition rate by atm%) and a range of this composition is the range of formula. For example, Fe, Ga and Ge are weighed so as to meet the predetermined composition rate and these are fused and cast by use of a high-frequency induction heating furnace. After that, by mechanical process, these are made into the alloy target for sputtering of 4 inches diameter and 4mm thickness. Sputtering is done by using this alloy target and a high-frequency magnetron sputtering device so that a thin film on a crystallized glass substrate is obtained. Furthermore, this thin film is annealed to be cooled gradually and a soft magnetic thin film is obtained. This can meet the enhancement of the coersive force of a magnetic recording medium sufficiently and it becomes possible to contrive the high quality and high recording density.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a soft magnetic thin film that exhibits good soft magnetic properties and is suitable for magnetic head materials and the like.

[Summary of the invention]

The present invention provides a soft magnetic thin film having a novel composition mainly composed of Fe, Ga, and Ge, and particularly provides a soft magnetic thin film having an extremely large saturation magnetic flux density Bs.

[Conventional technology]

For example, in magnetic recording and reproducing devices such as audio tape recorders and VTRs (video tape recorders), the density and quality of recording signals are increasing, and in response to this increase in recording density, magnetic recording media Fe in magnetic powder as
, so-called metal tapes using powders made of metals or alloys such as Co, Ni, etc., and so-called vapor deposition tapes in which ferromagnetic metal materials are directly deposited on a base film using vacuum thin film forming technology, have been developed, and are now widely used in various fields. It has been put into practical use.

By the way, in order to make use of the characteristics of a magnetic recording medium having such a high coercive force, the core material of the magnetic head must have a high saturation magnetic flux density, and when performing reproduction with the same magnetic head. In,
It is also required to have high magnetic permeability. For example, ferrite materials, which are commonly used as core materials for conventional magnetic heads, have a low saturation magnetic flux density, and permalloy has problems with wear resistance.

Conventionally, Fe-A has been used as a core material that satisfies these requirements.
It is well known that Sendust alloys made of l-3i alloys are considered suitable and have already been put to practical use.

However, in materials with excellent soft magnetic properties such as this Sendust alloy, magnetostriction λS and magnetocrystalline anisotropy K
It is desirable that both of these values be around zero, and the material composition that can be used in the magnetic head is determined by taking these two values into consideration. Therefore, the saturation magnetic flux density is also uniquely determined according to this composition, and in the case of Sendust alloy, the limit is 10 to 11 gauss.

Alternatively, instead of the Sendust alloy mentioned above, an amorphous magnetic alloy material (so-called amorphous magnetic alloy material) has been developed that has a high saturation magnetic flux density with little decrease in magnetic permeability in the high frequency range. Even alloy materials have a saturation magnetic flux density of about 12 Gauss, and are thermally unstable and have a high possibility of crystallization, so it is not possible to apply temperatures over 500°C for long periods of time, such as in glass fusing. There are process limitations when using it for magnetic heads that require various heat treatments.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

Under these circumstances, attempts to increase the coercive force of magnetic recording media in order to achieve higher quality and higher recording density are naturally constrained by the limit of saturation magnetic flux density as long as conventional core materials are used. is the current situation.

Therefore, the present invention was proposed in view of the above-mentioned conventional situation, and has soft magnetic properties comparable to those of Sendust alloy (
The purpose of the present invention is to provide a soft magnetic thin film that has a significantly high saturation magnetic flux density (magnetic permeability, coercive force, etc.) and a dramatically high saturation magnetic flux density.

[Means for solving problems]

As a result of long-term intensive research to achieve this objective, the present inventors discovered that a new composition containing Fe, Ga, and Qe as main components exhibits a saturation magnetic flux density that far exceeds that of Sendust alloy. The invention has been completed, and F e @G a bG e c (however, a, b,
c represents the composition ratio in atomic %. ), and its composition range is 64≦a≦84 1≦b≦35 1≦C≦35 a+b+c=100.

Further, in the above composition, a part of Ga may be replaced with A1, or a part of Ge may be replaced with Si.

The soft magnetic thin film of the present invention is mainly composed of Fe, Ga, and Qe, and has a saturation magnetic flux density B higher than that of Sendust alloy.
s is much higher, and has a saturation magnetic flux density Bs equivalent to that of the magnetic steel sheet, which is a Fe-3i alloy, and has superior soft magnetic properties and corrosion resistance than the magnetic steel sheet.

In the soft magnetic thin film of the present invention, it is preferable to set the composition ratio of each component element within a predetermined range; if it deviates from this range, magnetostriction increases and magnetic properties deteriorate.

Various methods can be considered for manufacturing the above-mentioned soft magnetic thin film, but among them, vacuum thin film forming technology is preferred.

The techniques for forming this vacuum thin film include sputtering, ion blasting, and vacuum evaporation.

Examples include cluster ion beam method.

In addition, as a method for adjusting the composition of each of the above component elements, (1) Weigh Fe, Ga, and Ge to a predetermined ratio and melt them in advance, for example, in a high-frequency melting furnace to form an alloy ingot. (2) A method of preparing evaporation sources for a single element of each component and controlling the composition by the number of these evaporation sources; (3) A method of using this alloy ingot as an evaporation source. (4) A method of implanting other elements while depositing an alloy as an evaporation source, etc.

Note that the soft magnetic thin film formed by the above-mentioned vacuum thin film forming technology has a slightly high coercive force in its original state and good soft magnetic properties cannot be obtained, so heat treatment is performed to reduce the distortion of the film. It is preferable to remove it to improve the soft magnetic properties.

[Effect]

In this way, Fe is used as a constituent element of the soft magnetic thin film.

By selecting Ga and Ge and setting their composition ratio within a predetermined range, the saturation magnetic flux density Bs becomes significantly larger than that of Sendust alloy, etc., and soft magnetic properties such as coercive force and magnetic permeability, and corrosion resistance are improved. Sex is also ensured.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, specific examples of the present invention will be described, but the present invention is not limited to these examples.

First, Fe, Ga, and Ge were weighed so as to have a predetermined composition ratio, melted and cast using a high-frequency induction heating furnace, and then machined to form a product with a diameter of 4 inches and a thickness of 4111 mm.
An alloy target for sputtering No. 1 was obtained.

Next, using this alloy target, an argon partial pressure of 5XIO-go To
Sputtering was performed under the conditions of input power of 300 W, and a crystallized glass substrate (manufactured by Hoya Glass Co., Ltd., product name: HOYA) was sputtered.
A thin film with a thickness of about 1 μm was obtained on PEG3130C).

Further, this thin film was annealed at 400° C. for 1 hour in a vacuum of I x 10 −6 Torr or less and slowly cooled to obtain a soft magnetic thin film.

According to the method described above, samples 1 to 5 were prepared by setting the composition ratio of the alloy target to the values indicated by the circles in FIG. 1, respectively. Note that there is a slight difference between the composition ratio of the alloy target for sample preparation and the composition ratio of the obtained soft magnetic thin film, but due to the composition difference at the time of spafting, the composition ratio of each sample obtained is the first. The composition falls within the composition range of the present invention indicated by diagonal lines in the figure.

For each sample obtained, the saturation magnetic flux density BS, saturation magnetization σ9. Coercive force HC1 permeability μ (LMHz and 10
Value at 0 MHz), magnetostriction and corrosion resistance were investigated.

Here, the saturation magnetic flux density Bs is measured using a vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM).
, the coercive force Hc is B -H/L/-P tracer, the magnetic permeability μ
was measured using a figure-8 coil type permeability meter.

The film thickness of each sample was determined by depositing a thin layer of aluminum on the surface of the sample and measuring the difference in level between the film and the substrate using a multi-interference film thickness meter. Furthermore, the compositional analysis of each sample was performed using EPM A (Electron Pr
The results were obtained using the obe Micro-Analysis method.

Corrosion resistance of each sample was determined by surface observation of the membrane surface after being immersed in tap water at room temperature for approximately one week. This corrosion resistance evaluation is
Judgment was made based on the following surface conditions.

A: There is no change in the film surface and it remains mirror-like.

B: A state in which a thin layer of rust has formed on the film surface.

C: A state in which thick rust has occurred on the film surface.

D: A state in which rust has occurred to the extent that the film itself disappears.

The results are shown in the table below. For comparison, Fe-3t alloy (electromagnetic steel sheet) and Fe
-3t-Aj! Regarding the alloy (Sendust), each value was measured as Comparative Sample 1 and Comparative Sample 2, respectively.

(The following is a blank space) From this table, it can be seen that each sample according to the present invention has a slightly inferior soft magnetic property than the Sendust alloy, but the saturation magnetic flux density Bs is much higher. In addition, the saturation magnetic flux density Bs of each of these samples is equivalent to that of Fe-3i alloy (magnetic steel sheet), and the soft magnetic properties and corrosion resistance are
It can be seen that this is superior to the i alloy.

Further, the magnetostriction of each sample was estimated from the value of the anisotropic magnetic field when tension or compression was applied, and the magnetostriction was less than lXl0-6 in all cases.

Incidentally, in this example, after the soft magnetic thin film is deposited by sputtering, heat treatment is performed at a temperature of 400°C for the following reason.

For example, sample 3 (Fet*, hGa++, 3Ge
+o, +), when the coercive force Hc was measured as it was deposited by sputtering, it showed a fairly high value of about 25 oersted.

Therefore, the inventors conducted further experiments, heat-treated the thin film deposited by sputtering, and investigated the relationship between the heat treatment temperature and the coercive force Hc of the resulting soft magnetic thin film. The results are shown in Figure 2.

From this Figure 2, it is clear that the coercive force He of the soft magnetic thin film obtained by heat-treating the thin film deposited by sputtering is significantly reduced, and shows a minimum value especially when the heat treatment temperature is 400°C. Ta.

Based on such knowledge, the magnetization curves of Sample 3 were determined before heat treatment and after annealing and slow cooling at a temperature of 400° C. for 1 hour. Figure 3 shows the magnetization curve before heat treatment.
FIG. 4 shows the magnetization curve after heat treatment. From these FIGS. 3 and 4, it can be seen that the magnetic properties (especially coercive force) of the obtained soft magnetic thin film were significantly improved by heat treatment at a temperature of 400°C.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As is clear from the above explanation, by selecting Fe, Ga, and Ge as the component elements of the soft magnetic thin film and setting their composition ratios to predetermined values, the soft magnetic thin film can be far superior to sendust alloys, amorphous magnetic alloys, etc. The saturation magnetic flux density Bs can be achieved, and soft magnetic properties and corrosion resistance can be ensured.

Therefore, by using this soft magnetic thin film as a core material of a magnetic head, for example, it is possible to sufficiently cope with the increase in coercive force of a magnetic recording medium, and it becomes possible to achieve higher quality and higher recording density.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a ternary characteristic diagram showing the composition of the alloy target used in the examples of the present invention and the composition range of the soft magnetic thin film of the present invention. Figure 2 is a characteristic diagram showing the relationship between the coercive force Hc of the soft magnetic thin film deposited by sputtering and the heat treatment temperature;
The figure is a characteristic diagram showing the magnetization curve of this soft magnetic thin film before heat treatment, and FIG. 4 is the characteristic diagram showing the magnetization curve after heat treatment at 400° C. for 1 hour. Figure 1 Pierre force H7 (Oe)-

Claims (1)

[Claims] It is represented by the composition formula Fe_aGa_bGe_c (where a, b, and c each represent the composition ratio as atomic %),
A soft magnetic thin film characterized in that its composition range is 64≦a≦84 1≦b≦35 1≦c≦35 a+b+c=100.