Influence of H2 Partial Pressure on Sputtered TbFeCo Films

The effect of H
₂
partial pressure on TbFeCo films was studied and it was found that increasing the H
₂
partial pressure lowers both H
_c
(changing the magnetic anisotropy from perpendicular to in-plane), and the film deposition rate, while increasing Ms to a value approaching that of FeCo films. The various ion currents in the plasma increased until the H
₂
partial pressure reached 1 × 10
^-4
torr and this agreed with changes in the film deposition rate.