Structure and soft magnetic properties of Fe-N thin films

200-nm Fe-N thin films deposited on glass substrates by radio-frequency magnetron sputtering were vacuum annealed at 250/spl deg/C-350/spl deg/C under a 12000-A/m magnetic field. Heat treatment was effective in improving the soft magnetic properties of the Fe-N film. When the nitrogen content was in the range of 5-7 atomic %, the thin films consisted of /spl alpha/'+/spl alpha/'' after heat treatment and had excellent soft magnetic properties: M/sub s/=2.4 T, H/sub c/<80 A/m, /spl mu//sub r/=1500 under 2-10 MHz. The properties of the films meet the needs of a write head material used in dual-element giant magnetoresistive/inductive heads.