Studies of laminated and single layer high moment soft FeTaN films

Detailed studies on the effect of Ti base layers in high moment soft FeTaN films and the effective utilization of Ti as a seed layer in thick laminated FeTaN films are presented in this article. Because of the reduced eddy current losses in thick films (similar to 2 mu m), laminated films (FeTaN/Si3N4) exhibit better initial permeabilities at higher frequencies than single layer films having the same total thickness. Moreover, if a thin (30-100 Angstrom) layer of Ti is used as a seed layer for the FeTaN layers in the laminate, the soft magnetic properties are significantly improved. X-ray diffraction results show that the laminates with a Ti seed layer have an enhanced (110) growth texture resulting in better soft magnetic properties. (C) 1997 American Institute of Physics.