High saturation magnetization films of FeCoCr

Thin (similar to1000 A) films of (Fe54Co46)(1-x)Cr-x have been prepared by magnetron sputtering on Si/SiO2 substrates. The films were shown to be body-centered-cubic and (110) textured. It was found that the Fe54Co46 films possess a saturation magnetization of 24.5 kG at room temperature. Doping the Fe54Co46 films with Cr in the range of 0-13 at. % increased corrosion resistance, electrical resistivity, and reduced the saturation magnetization as a function of the amount of added Cr. The coercivity of both doped and undoped as-deposited films (80-120 Oe) decreased substantially after a 220 degreesC magnetic anneal. Electrochemical corrosion testing was done in two chloride salt solutions. Potentiodynamic scans performed on films in a 0.47 M chloride bath solution at pH=2.9 showed a substantial increase in corrosion resistance of the films between 6.6 and 8.2 a/o Cr. Similar scans performed in a 0.01 M chloride solution at pH=5.8 showed good corrosion resistance for all the films. (C) 2002 American Institute of Physics.