Soft magnetic FeAlN/Al/sub 2/O/sub 3/ multilayered films

FeAlN has been proposed as a magnetic recording head material because of its high saturation magnetization, low coercivity and low magnetostriction. The soft magnetic properties have been further improved by making multilayer films with SiO
₂
interlayers. Two important concerns about the practicality of multilayer films are: (1) film stresses induced during fabrication, due to differential thermal expansion of the magnetic and interlayer materials: and (2) possible deterioration of the soft magnetic properties under heat treatment, due to interdiffusion between the layers. Compared with SiO
₂
, AI
₂
O
₃
has a thermal expansion coefficient closer to that of Fe and so should give less stress. We have deposited FeAIN/Al
₂
O
₃
multilayers with good soft magnetic properties which are stable to annealing at temperatures up to 360
^°
C.