Nanostructured SmCo_5 Thin Films with Perpendicular Anisotropy Formed in a Wide Range of Sm-Co Compositions

摘要

In this work, we prepared SmCo_5 thin films with (000/) texture exhibiting perpendicular anisotropy in a wide range of Sm_xCo_(100-x) compositions (x = 13.2 ～ 37.0) on Cu/Ta underlayers. At a composition of Sm_(16.7)Co_(83.3) (SmCo_5), the SmCo_5 film exhibits a maximum perpendicular coercivity of 18.2 kOe, which is attributed to a good crystallinity and an excellent (000/) texture. The SmCo_5 (000/) peaks are shifted to smaller angles compared to the standard powder sample which indicates the formation of a SmCoCu alloy through Cu diffusion. The EDX result for this sample gives a composition of SmCo_3Cu_(2.1) which confirms Cu diffusion into the SmCo_5 layer. TEM image shows that SmCo_5 film is well crystallized with a grain size of 50 nm.