Investigation on microstructures and phases of Fe-Ga alloy films deposited by magnetron sputtering

Abstract

Galfenol (Fe-Ga alloy), as a new magnetostrictive materials, has potentially wide applications in magnetostrictive devices. In this work, Fe-Ga alloy thin films were prepared by slice-style target magnetron sputtering and investigations on microstructures and phases of Fe-Ga alloy films were made to explore the relationship of properties and microstructures. The results show that the component of alloy thin film is related to physical properties of the material itself as well as the area ratio of the patch and target. The phase formed in the films in is disorderly A2 phase with face-centred cubic structure. The films prepared by magnetron sputtering exist in the form of polycrystalline with crystallographic texture perpendicular to the film plane. The structure shape of as-deposited specimens present a maze domain with different contrast and resolution and the magnetic domain decreased with the increase of the Ga content. With the increase of the Ga content, the magnetic domains become more and more irregular. Fe-Ga thin film morphology is related to the growth mode of the film. The microstructures of Fe-Ga alloy films can be controlled by magnetron sputtering technology.