Soft magnetic properties and microstructures of FeRhN high moment thin films

High moment FeRhN films with soft magnetic properties have been fabricated by reactive RF sputtering. The magnetic properties and microstructures of the FeRhN films are similar to those of FeN films, but the sputtering parameters for the minimum coercivity are somewhat shifted. The addition of Rh results in slightly increased saturation magnetostriction at a given N/sub 2//Ar flow rate ratio. It is confirmed by High Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy (HREM) that small grains are important to obtain soft magnetic properties in FeRhN films deposited on alumina coated Al/sub 2/O/sub 3/-TiC (AlTiC) composite substrates. It is also observed that the grain size of the /spl gamma/'-(FeRh)/sub 4/N phase does not differ much from that of the /spl alpha/-(FeRhN) solid solution phase near the optimized N/sub 2//Ar flow rate ratio.