Structural and physical properties of permalloy thin films prepared by DC magnetron sputtering at different substrate temperature

Permalloy Ni80Fe20 films have been grown on thermal oxidized Si (111) wafers by magnetron sputtering at well-controlled substrate temperatures of 300, 500, 640 and 780 K in 0.65 Pa argon pressure. The base pressure was about 1×10-4 Pa. The deposition rate was about 5 nm/min for all the films. The structure of the films was studied using X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy. The composition of the films was analyzed using scanning Auger microprobe. The resistance and magnetoresistance of the films were measured using four-point probe technique. The results show that the content of oxygen in the films decreases gradually with raising substrate temperature. In addition, the surface morphology of the films presents notable change with the increasing of the substrate temperature; the residual gases and defects decrease and the grains have coalesced evidently, and then the grains have grown up obviously and the texture of (111) orientation develops gradually in the growing film. As a result, the resistivity reduces apparently and magnetoresistance ratio increases markedly with raising substrate temperature.

Measurement of the remnant magnetic-field in Lorentz mode using permalloy

A novel method was reported to measure the remnant magnetic field in Lorentz mode in a FEI Tecnai F20 transmission electron microscope equipped with a Lorentz lens. The movement of the circle Bloch line of the cross-tie wall in Permalloy is used to measure the remnant magnetic field by tilting the specimen and adjusting the objective lens current. The remnant magnetic field is estimated to be about 17 Oe, in a direction opposite to that of the objective lens magnetic field. The remnant magnetic field can be compensated by adjusting the value of the objective lens current.

Microstructure and AMR Properties of Permalloy Films Sputtered on (Ni_ (0.81)Fe_(0.19)_ (0.66)Cr_(0.34 )Buffer

Ni 0.81Fe 0.19) 0.66Cr 0.34 has a high resistivity and a crystal structure close to that of Ni 0.81Fe 0.19.The electrical and X-ray diffraction measurements prove that a thin NiFeCr seed layer induces a well (111)-oriented Ni 0.81Fe 0.19 film.Post-annealing treatment improves the magnetic properties of (Ni 0.81Fe 0.19) 0.66Cr 0.34(45?)/Ni 0.81Fe 0.19(150?)/Ta(55?) thin film prepared under a deposition field,whereas the inter-diffusion of NiFe/Ta deteriorates the magnetoresistance properties of the film.

Structural and physical properties of permalloy thin films prepared by DC magnetron sputtering at different substrate temperature

Permalloy Ni_(80)Fe_(20) films have been grown on thermal oxidized Si (111)wafers by magnetron sputtering at well-controlled substrate temperatures of 300, 500, 640 and 780 Kin 0.65 Pa argon pressure. The base pressure was about 1x10^(-4) Pa. The deposition rate was about 5nm/min for all the films. The structure of the films was studied using X-ray diffraction, scanningelectron microscopy and atomic force microscopy. The composition of the films was analyzed usingscanning Auger microprobe. The resistance and magnetoresistance of the films were measured usingfour-point probe technique. The results show that the content of oxygen in the films decreasesgradually with raising substrate temperature. In addition, the surface morphology of the filmspresents notable change with the increasing of the substrate temperature; the residual gases anddefects decrease and the grains have coalesced evidently, and then the grains have grown upobviously and the texture of (111) orientation develops gradually in the growing film. As a result,the resistivity reduces apparently and magnetoresistance ratio increases markedly with raisingsubstrate temperature.

Finished surface morphology, microstructure and magnetic properties of selective laser melted Fe-50wt% Ni permalloy

This work focuses on the structure and magnetic properties of Fe-50wt% Ni permalloy manufactured from the pre-alloyed powder by selective laser melting (SLM). The selective laser melted (SLMed) alloys were characterized by a 3D profilometer,optical microscope, scanning electron microscope, X-ray diffraction, etc. The effects of the volume energy density of laser(LVED) on structure, and magnetic properties with coercivity ( H), remanence ( B), and power losses ( P), were evaluated and discussed systematically. The results show that the relative porosity rate and the surface roughness of the SLMed specimens decreased with the increase in LVED. Only the γ-(FeNi) phase was detected in the X-ray diffraction patterns of the SLMed permalloys fabricated from the different LVEDs. Statistical analysis of optical microscopy images indicated that the grain coarsened at higher LVED. Furthermore, the microstructure of the SLMed parts was a typical columnar structure with an oriented growth of building direction. The highest microhardness reached 198 HV. Besides, the magnetic properties including B, H, and Pof SLMed samples decreased when the LVED ranged from 33.3 to 60.0 J/mm ~3 firstly and then increased while LVED further up to 93.3 J/mm, which is related to the decrease in porosity and the increase in grain size, while the higher residual stress and microcracks presented in the samples manufactured using very high LVED. The observed evolution of magnetic properties and LVED provides a good compromise in terms of reduced porosity and crack formation for the fabrication of SLMed Fe-50 wt% Ni permalloy. The theoretical mechanism in this study can offer guidance to further investigate SLMed soft magnetic alloys.

Observation of Magnetic Domain Structures of Magnetic Thin Films by the Lorentz Electron Microscopy

The microstructure change in thin NiFe/Cu/NiFe films during the magnetization process was observed by the Lorentz electronmicroscopy. TWo types of films were prepared: (1) one NiFe layer with anisotropy and the other layer without, and (2) both NiFe layershave anisotropy normal each other. The domain wall migration and magnetization rotation processes in each of NiFe layers could be observed separately. The presence of magnetic anisotropy in the magnetic layer effectively controls the behavior of magnetic domains. Theinteraction between the two NiFe layers of the film could be observed not so strong in the present experiment.

Bi-Directional Giant Magneto Impedance Sensor

A thin film giant magneto impedance (GMI) based on magnetic field sensor has been developed using electrodeposited Ni-Fe permalloy. Chemical composition, surface morphology, and magnetic properties of Ni-Fe permalloy were char-acterized as a function of plateup parameters, and process conditions were established to deposit a Ni-Fe thin film with a high permeability (~1000) and a low coercivity (0.6 Oersted). Conventional GMI sensors are uni-directional and are several millimeters long. In this work, a spiral-shaped sensor using electroplated Ni-Fe permalloy to detect bi-directional magnetic field is reported. Excellent bi-directional magnetic field sensing has been demonstrated using the 1 mm2 compact double-spiral structure.

Construction of high-performance magnetic sensor based on anisotropic magnetoresistance Ta/MgO/NiFe/MgO/Ta film

The anisotropic magnetoresistance film is an important core material for developing the magnetic sensors.Here,Ta(5)/Mg O(3)/Ni Fe(10)/Mg O(3)/Ta(3)multilayers(in nanometer)were prepared by magnetron sputtering and further applied to construct a sensor element by combining with the Wheatstone bridge.The 1/f noise of the sensor element was greatly reduced by three orders of magnitude after annealing at 400℃for 7200 s,which was mainly due to the significant microstructural changes during the annealing.However,when the sensor element was applied to detect the magnetic signal of a magnetic code disk with 512 N-S magnetic poles,the output voltage signal of the sensor displayed a large fluctuation of±0.05 V.In order to reduce the voltage fluctuation,a magnetic sensor chip by using a parallelly arranged multipath Wheatstone bridges and auto-gain compensation structure was designed,and magnetic sensor elements and the high-performance computing drive module were prepared.The output voltage fluctuation of the magnetic sensor was reduced by about 90%and approached to±0.005 V.These findings provide an important basis for the practical application of Ni Fe-based magnetic sensing film materials.