Soft magnetic properties and microstructure of high moment Fe-N-Al-O films for recording heads

Fe-N-Al-O alloy films were fabricated by RF reactive sputtering in a mixed Ar+N/sub 2/ plasma. The Al and O contents in films were varied by the area ratio of Al/sub 2/O/sub 3/ chips placed on an Fe target. We examined the effects of additional elements, such as Al and O, on magnetic and electrical properties of the Fe-N-Al-O films, and we investigated the relationship between soft magnetic properties and microstructure. The permeability reaches a maximum of about 1800, when the Al+O content range is 10-16 at%.