Deposition of amorphous Fe-Zr alloys by magnetron co-sputtering

In the last decades, amorphous metal alloys were under intensive research because of their specific properties. Furthermore, amorphous magnetic metallic alloys, also known as metallic glasses, are important because of their application in electronic industry, information technology, recording media, etc. [Shen J, Kirschner J. Surf. Sci. 2002;500:300-322; Bass J, Pratt Jr WP. Physica 2002;B321:1-8; Dugaev VK, Vygranenko Yu, Vieira M, et. al. Physica 2003;E16:558-562]. Fe_1−xZr_x amorphous films co-condensed by magnetron sputtering were studied. X-ray diffraction methods were applied for studying a glass forming range vs. the composition of the elements. Electrical properties of the samples were measured by so-called four-probe and Van der Pauw methods. The surface morphology was investigated by SEM. The results show that amorphous Fe_1−xZr_x alloys with 1.5 nm crystallites could be synthesized by magnetron co-sputtering on the substrates at room temperature when the alloy's composition was Fe_0.91Zr_0.09 with a very smooth surface. The grain size of alloys decreased increasing the Zr concentration. The resistivity of the thin films of these alloys depends on the crystalline size and structure.