MATERIAL DEPENDENCE OF PROPERTY MODIFICATION IN ION-ASSISTED EVAPORATION OF IRON, NICKEL AND COBALT

In this work the use of concurrent argon ion bombardment to modify film properties in evaporated iron, cobalt and nickel was studied. A strong energy dependence is seen for many properties in the range 63-250 eV. In addition, material-dependent differences are seen in the behavior of resistivity, magnetic properties and microstructure. The property behavior is correlated with aspects of film microstructure such as film texture and apparent grain size. The differences observed are explained in terms of differences in crystalline structure which influence property changes induced by concurrent ion bombardment.