The Role of Heat Treatment on the Structural and Nano-Mechanical Properties of SmCo5 Thin Films Grown by RF Magnetron Sputtering Technique

Abstract

In this study, the influence of annealing temperature on structural, morphological, and nano-mechanical properties of SmCo<inf>5</inf> thin films, which was produced by RF magnetron sputtering technique, was investigated. A set of 1 µm thick SmCo<inf>5</inf> thin films were grown on a Si (100) substrate at room temperature, and subsequently annealed at 400℃, 500℃, 600℃, and 700℃ in an argon atmosphere. These films have a hexagonal CaCu<inf>5</inf> structure with (110) preferential orientation corresponding to SmCo<inf>5</inf> films observed. The Structural morphological and nano-mechanical properties of SmCo<inf>5</inf> thin films were examined using the Grazing Incident X-ray Diffraction (GIXRD), Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Nano indentation techniques. Results showed that the as-deposited SmCo<inf>5</inf> thin films had a polycrystalline structure. Following the heat treatment, both crystallite and grain size increased and thin film crystallinity improved. In addition, nano-hardness and reduced elastic modulus of the SmCo<inf>5</inf> thin films were measured with a Berkovich tip. Nano hardness and reduced elastic modulus values decrease with the increasing annealing temperature. © 2016 Elsevier Ltd and Techna Group S.r.l.