No abstract

Three types of sputtering targets are intercompared when used in conjunction with an improved cathode structure. A Type B target, which is composed of elemental Tb and a Tb-Transition metal intermetallic compound, was found to possess superior performance characteristics, i.e. compositional uniformity, compositional stability and waste ratio. In addition, it was deduced from finite element calculations that good cathode design is also essential to obtain optimum performance from a low magnetization target.