Auger spectroscopy analysis of metal/ferrite interface layer in metal-in-gap magnetic head

It is well known that a poor magnetic layer is formed at the interface between the metal film (e.g. Sendust) and the ferrite core in fabricating metal-in-gap heads. The authors have analyzed precisely the poor magnetic layer by means of Auger spectroscopy combined with ion sputtering. It is found that the poor magnetic layer is formed by reaction at the interface between the metal film and the substrate during the annealing process. In the case of Sendust, this layer is composed of Al/sub 2/O/sub 3/+SiO/sub 2/, which is a nonmagnetic material. For a new soft magnetic alloy, Fe-Ga-Si-Ru, used instead of sendust, the reacted layer is composed of SiO/sub 2//Ga/sub 2/O/sub 3/. To prevent the reaction, a very thin intermediate film of SiO/sub 2/ or Si-N-O was formed by sputtering.<
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