RESIDUAL STRESS AND MAGNETIC PROPERTIES OF Fe-Ga THIN FILMS

Abstract

Fe - Ga thin films were prepared by DC magnetron sputtering on Si (100) substrate and an alloy target consisting of Fe 81 Ga 19 was used. X-ray diffraction techniques were used to quantify the strain in the Fe - Ga thin films by measuring the interplanar spacings of select crystallographic planes. The interplanar spacing, d, for the family of Fe - Ga {211} planes was measured. Using the well-established sin 2ψ technique, the residual stress of the Fe - Ga thin films was calculated. It has been found that the stress for Fe - Ga thin films quickly increases with increasing the sputtering power. The residual stress of thin films is almost unchanged in the range of 220-440 nm, and then it decreases with increasing the thickness of thin films.