Magnetic properties of Nd-Fe-B film magnets prepared by RF sputtering

Highly oriented films of similar to 6 mu m in thickness consisting of the Nd2Fe14B compound phase were obtained by a three-dimensional sputtering method at room temperature and the subsequent crystallization by annealing. The c-axis orientation and coercivity of film samples were sensitive to the sputtering parameters and annealing conditions. The optimum temperature and time for annealing were 650 degrees C and 30 min to show the highest coercivity without any deterioration for the orientation of Nd2Fe14B grains, and furthermore the degree of c-axis orientation was increased by decreasing the Ar gas pressure or input power for sputtering. The resultant film magnets with good magnetic properties of B-r = similar to 1.06 T, H-C = similar to 371 kA/m, and (BH)(max) = similar to 160 kJ/m(3) were obtained under the optimized parameters for sputtering. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.