A study on SmCo5and Sm0.5MM0.5Co amorphous films

The magnetic and structural changes of amorphous films, which are prepared by DC diode sputtering on to liquid nitrogen-cooled substrates, during crystallization have been investigated. The targets are made of hard magnetic materials SmCo
5
, Sm
0.5
MM
0.5
Co. The study of crystallization process on the SmCo
5
amorphous films by X-ray and electron diffraction shows that the B-Co phase appears at 550°C, but it has only two B-Co diffraction fringes and the original amorphous wide band until 750°C, which shows that the crystalline phase of SmCo
5
intermatallic compound has not yet formed. It differs from the thick amorphous films as reported in the references. It is possible that the films have different crystallization process for larger surface energy. The measurements of the magnetic balance, vibrating sample magnetometer, Hall voltages and magnetic torque show that those amorphous films are soft magnetic and possess in-plane magnetic anisotropy. After the heat treatment of crystalline, the magnetizations have increased distinctly, but still have not hard magnetic property. It coincides the consequence of the structure study which has not formed the intermetallic compound.