Microstructure and magnetic properties of anistropic polycrystalline Sm(Fe0.8Co0.2)12 thin films with ThMn12 structure

Abstract

The coercivity of the Sm(FeCo)12 films increased from 0.5 T to 0.8 T by depositing Cu andpost-annealing at 400 ℃. Then, we carried out the EDS analysis about the Cu diffusedSm(Fe0.8Co0.2)12 film with compared to the sample before diffusion process. In the samplebefore diffusion process, Sm, Fe, and Co elements are distributed uniformly. On the otherhand, in the sample after Cu diffusion, the distribution of the Sm element become non-uniform,following the distribution of Cu elements. Moreover, Cu seems to be diffused into not onlygrain boundary, but also Sm(Fe0.8Co0.2)12 grains partially, and the formation of other phaseswere suggested which should be influence on coercivity. Therefore, it is important to controlthe formation of these phases and proper grain boundary phase, for further improvement ofcoercivity.