Fabrication and Characterization of Permanent Magnetic SmCo5 Thin Films by SQUID Magnetometer

Abstract

Fabrication of hard magnetic thin films is a key issue on the development of new micro electro mechanical systems. As the magnetically hard SmCo thin-films offer excellent intrinsic magnetic properties, such as moderate saturation magnetization, large magnetic anisotropy, and high Curie temperature, they are considered as a promising candidate to be used for novel MEMS applications. In this work, SmCo<inf>5</inf> thin films with Cu underlayer were grown onto Si (100) substrate at room temperature by RF magnetron sputtering technique. The samples were annealed at 400˚C and 500˚C under Ar atmosphere condition. Microstructural and magnetic properties of sputtered SmCo<inf>5</inf> thin films were investigated by a number of advanced characterization tools and techniques. Phase composition of SmCo<inf>5</inf> thin films was analyzed by grazing incident X-ray diffraction (GIXRD) with Cu-K<inf>α</inf> radiation. Surface morphology was investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) techniques. Magnetic force microscopy (MFM) technique was used to take stray-field images of SmCo<inf>5</inf> thin films, and finally magnetic properties were investigated to explain the coercivity of SmCo<inf>5</inf> thin films using superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) as a magnetometer. © 2018 Trans Tech Publications, Switzerland.