Effect of ion-beam gas species on magnetic softness in Fe-Co thin-film etching

Yuichi Ohsawa; Daisuke Saida; Kiyoshi Yamakawa; Hiroaki Muraoka

doi:10.1109/TMAG.2011.2157096

Effect of ion-beam gas species on magnetic softness in Fe-Co thin-film etching

Yuichi Ohsawa, Daisuke Saida, Kiyoshi Yamakawa, Hiroaki Muraoka

Broadband Engineering Division

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

1 Citation (Scopus)

Abstract

The effect of ion-beam (IB) gas species on magnetic softness in etching of Fe-Co thin films was evaluated by means of in situ magnetoresistance (MR) measurements. A 25-nm Fe₇₀Co₃₀ film was etched by Ar, Ne, or Kr IB, and successive MR measurements were performed in the same IB etching chamber. The IB etching and MR measurements were performed alternately in vacuum; therefore, it was possible to evaluate the etching gas effect on magnetic softness of the single sample in nanometer scale without the need to deposit a capping layer. Higher energy IB of 600 V showed larger gas species dependence of the deterioration than lower energy of 250 V. In the case of 600-V etching, Kr IB showed better softness compared with those of Ar and Ne IBs, whose etching surface was the smoothest among the etching conditions. Structural analysis revealed that surface roughness has an important role for magnetic softness and MR ratio in the thinner region of less than about 5 nm.

Original language	English
Article number	6027763
Pages (from-to)	3411-3414
Number of pages	4
Journal	IEEE Transactions on Magnetics
Volume	47
Issue number	10
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1109/TMAG.2011.2157096
Publication status	Published - 2011 Oct

Keywords

Ion beam
iron alloys
magnetic films
magnetic heads
magnetoresistance

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
Electrical and Electronic Engineering

Access to Document

10.1109/TMAG.2011.2157096

Cite this

@article{6ed2a833767145b4b2bce2f0990fde8e,

title = "Effect of ion-beam gas species on magnetic softness in Fe-Co thin-film etching",

abstract = "The effect of ion-beam (IB) gas species on magnetic softness in etching of Fe-Co thin films was evaluated by means of in situ magnetoresistance (MR) measurements. A 25-nm Fe70Co30 film was etched by Ar, Ne, or Kr IB, and successive MR measurements were performed in the same IB etching chamber. The IB etching and MR measurements were performed alternately in vacuum; therefore, it was possible to evaluate the etching gas effect on magnetic softness of the single sample in nanometer scale without the need to deposit a capping layer. Higher energy IB of 600 V showed larger gas species dependence of the deterioration than lower energy of 250 V. In the case of 600-V etching, Kr IB showed better softness compared with those of Ar and Ne IBs, whose etching surface was the smoothest among the etching conditions. Structural analysis revealed that surface roughness has an important role for magnetic softness and MR ratio in the thinner region of less than about 5 nm.",

keywords = "Ion beam, iron alloys, magnetic films, magnetic heads, magnetoresistance",

author = "Yuichi Ohsawa and Daisuke Saida and Kiyoshi Yamakawa and Hiroaki Muraoka",

note = "Funding Information: This work was supported in part by the Research and Development for Next-Generation Information Technology program of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) of Japan. The authors would like to thank Prof. Shimatsu, Tohoku University, for valuable comments. This research has been partly carried out at the Evaluation and Analysis Center, RIEC, Tohoku University.",

year = "2011",

month = oct,

doi = "10.1109/TMAG.2011.2157096",

language = "English",

volume = "47",

pages = "3411--3414",

journal = "IEEE Transactions on Magnetics",

issn = "0018-9464",

publisher = "Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.",

number = "10",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Effect of ion-beam gas species on magnetic softness in Fe-Co thin-film etching

AU - Ohsawa, Yuichi

AU - Saida, Daisuke

AU - Yamakawa, Kiyoshi

AU - Muraoka, Hiroaki

N1 - Funding Information: This work was supported in part by the Research and Development for Next-Generation Information Technology program of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) of Japan. The authors would like to thank Prof. Shimatsu, Tohoku University, for valuable comments. This research has been partly carried out at the Evaluation and Analysis Center, RIEC, Tohoku University.

PY - 2011/10

Y1 - 2011/10

N2 - The effect of ion-beam (IB) gas species on magnetic softness in etching of Fe-Co thin films was evaluated by means of in situ magnetoresistance (MR) measurements. A 25-nm Fe70Co30 film was etched by Ar, Ne, or Kr IB, and successive MR measurements were performed in the same IB etching chamber. The IB etching and MR measurements were performed alternately in vacuum; therefore, it was possible to evaluate the etching gas effect on magnetic softness of the single sample in nanometer scale without the need to deposit a capping layer. Higher energy IB of 600 V showed larger gas species dependence of the deterioration than lower energy of 250 V. In the case of 600-V etching, Kr IB showed better softness compared with those of Ar and Ne IBs, whose etching surface was the smoothest among the etching conditions. Structural analysis revealed that surface roughness has an important role for magnetic softness and MR ratio in the thinner region of less than about 5 nm.

AB - The effect of ion-beam (IB) gas species on magnetic softness in etching of Fe-Co thin films was evaluated by means of in situ magnetoresistance (MR) measurements. A 25-nm Fe70Co30 film was etched by Ar, Ne, or Kr IB, and successive MR measurements were performed in the same IB etching chamber. The IB etching and MR measurements were performed alternately in vacuum; therefore, it was possible to evaluate the etching gas effect on magnetic softness of the single sample in nanometer scale without the need to deposit a capping layer. Higher energy IB of 600 V showed larger gas species dependence of the deterioration than lower energy of 250 V. In the case of 600-V etching, Kr IB showed better softness compared with those of Ar and Ne IBs, whose etching surface was the smoothest among the etching conditions. Structural analysis revealed that surface roughness has an important role for magnetic softness and MR ratio in the thinner region of less than about 5 nm.

KW - Ion beam

KW - iron alloys

KW - magnetic films

KW - magnetic heads

KW - magnetoresistance

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=80053544597&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=80053544597&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1109/TMAG.2011.2157096

DO - 10.1109/TMAG.2011.2157096

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:80053544597

VL - 47

SP - 3411

EP - 3414

JO - IEEE Transactions on Magnetics

JF - IEEE Transactions on Magnetics

SN - 0018-9464

IS - 10

M1 - 6027763

ER -

Effect of ion-beam gas species on magnetic softness in Fe-Co thin-film etching

Abstract

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this