High performance hard magnetic NdFeB thick films for integration into micro-electro-mechanical systems

5 mu m thick NdFeB films have been sputtered onto 100 mm Si substrates using high rate sputtering (18 mu m/h). Films were deposited at <= 500 degrees C and then annealed at 750 degrees C for 10 min. While films deposited at temperatures up to 450 degrees C have equiaxed grains, the size of which decreases with increasing deposition temperature, the films deposited at 500 degrees C have columnar grains. The out-of-plane remanent magnetization increases with deposition temperature, reaching a maximum value of 1.4 T, while the coercivity remains constant at about 1.6 T. The maximum energy product achieved (400 kJ/m(3)) is comparable to that of high-quality NdFeB sintered magnets. (c) 2007 American Institute of Physics.