High coercivity SmFeSiC films fabricated by multilayer sputtering

SmFeSiC thin films have been obtained by sputtering SmFe/C(Si) multilayers with a Ta underlayer on Si substrates and subsequently annealing at 700° C. The coercivity of the SmF films strongly depends on the sputtering and annealing conditions. The influence of the thickness of the Ta underlayer, the thickness ratio of SmFe to C(Si), the argon pressure and heat treatment In- plane Coercivities up to 7.2 kOe and squareness of 0.94 were obtained