Stress, microstructure, and magnetic softness of high saturation magnetization (Bs) FeCoN films -: art. no. 10F906

High saturation magnetization soft magnetic FeCoN films were deposited under different conditions. Their soft magnetic properties and microstructures were characterized. Good magnetic softness with a low coercivity of similar to 240 A/m (3 Oe) was achieved in FeCoN films on glass with a thickness of up to 640 nm. A correlation was found to exist between the FeCoN film coercivities and their compressive strains, with higher coercivities corresponding to larger compressive strains. FeCoN film coercivities were lower for samples with larger grain sizes, exhibiting a typical I ID relationship with D being the mean grain size, a mechanism that is different from the reported fine grain size-induced magnetic softness in FeCo thin films. (c) 2005 American Institute of Physics.