CRYSTALLOGRAPHIC TEXTURE AND MORPHOLOGY OF OBLIQUELY DEPOSITED CO-CR MAGNETIC THIN-FILMS ON FLEXIBLE POLYMERIC SUBSTRATES

Thin magnetic films of Co-Cr have been obliquely deposited by evaporation and sputtering at a fixed incidence angle of 45-degrees using tilted sample holders. The layers exhibit a columnar microstructure with the column axes at an angle in the range 15-degrees-35-degrees with respect to the film normal. The tilt angle strongly depends on the type of substrate used, the deposition temperature and the substrate pretreatment. The c axes of the h.c.p. crystallites always coincide with the column axes. A Ti underlayer forces the columns and crystallites of the Co-Cr film to grow vertically to the film plane despite the oblique incidence deposition process.