Magnetic and structural properties of Sm\u3csub\u3e2\u3c/sub\u3eFe\u3csub\u3e10\u3c/sub\u3eCo\u3csub\u3e7\u3c/sub\u3e/M\u3csub\u3ex\u3c/sub\u3eC\u3csub\u3ey\u3c/sub\u3e thin films

The structural and magnetic properties of Sm2Fe10Co7/MxCy (M=A1 and Si; x≥0 and y≥0) multilayer films with Ta underlayers and overlayers before and after annealing at 700 °C for 5-12 min have been fabricated and studied. Structural studies show evidence of layer diffusion upon annealing. X-ray diffraction shows that the samples after annealing consist of a soft phase, α -Fe, and a hard phase with the 2-17-type structure. The samples studied have in-plane anisotropy with single hysteresis loops indicating that the two phases are strongly exchange coupled. After annealing, the coercivity of samples with AlxCy is found to increase with increasing AlxCy composition to a maximum of 3.3 kOe. The energy products for these samples are found to increase from 1.4 MGOe for SmFeCo to 8 MGOe for SmFeCo with AlxCy