SmCo based films containing 20 at. % Fe and with Sm varying from 15.5 to 17 at. % have been synthesized to show the transition from ordered CaCu5 to disordered TbCu7 phase. For either phase, the demagnetization energy present during deposition can result in films with the crystallite c axes randomly splayed onto the film plane. It has been possible to synthesize the high anisotropy CaCu5 phase with either a (200) or (110) texture by adjusting the sputtering parameters to correspond to either a relatively high or relatively low surface mobility during the film deposition. It has been possible to synthesize ordered CaCu5 type films with very low values of BR(⊥)/BR(∥)=0.042. Previously, SmCo based single phase TbCu7 structure films have been synthesized with close to the usual high energy product 2–17 compositions of nominally 7 at. % Cu and 2 at. % Zr. The films have been characterized by vibrating-sample magnetometer and superconducting quantum interference device magnetometry, x-ray diffraction, and scanning electron microscope measurements for composition and film morphology. The films have been directly crystallized onto heated substrates so that the crystallite c axes are predominantly randomly aligned in the film plane. The crystal structures observed could be switched from the ordered CaCu5 to the disordered TbCu7 phase for small variations in the Sm concentrations.

Films of SmCo based materials exhibiting high intrinsic coercivities and smooth hysteresis loops have been prepared by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) onto moderately heated substrates. Films directly crystallized from SmCo5 targets onto 375 °C substrates exhibited a maximum Hc=11.3 kOei at a pulse repetition rate of 10 Hz with lower coercivities for both lower and higher pulse repetition rates. In the present case the films were deposited onto polycrystalline substrates. The films exhibited a very small grain size of less than 1 μm diameter, were mirrorlike, and shadow deposited films were relatively particulate free under scanning electron microscope examination. Shadowed PLD deposition was used for the best films. Laser wavelengths of 193 and 248 nm were used with pulse repetition rates from 5 to 50 Hz. Films grown without shadowing exhibited a great deal of particulate contamination. The hysteresis loops of such nonshadowed films were constricted and exhibited drops in the 4πM values upon demagnetization. To our knowledge this is the first reporting of high coercive force SmCo based films deposited by PLD exhibiting single phase type hysteresis loops.

In applications where large remanent moments and energy products are required at elevated temperatures, SmCo-based permanent magnets provide the best properties. In addition to their high Curie points, these SmCo-based ordered phases of 1-5, 2-17, and the disordered 1-7 phase show large uniaxial anisotropies at elevated temperatures. We have now measured the high-temperature hysteresis properties of single-phase TbCu7-type SmCo-based permanent magnet films. Such single-phase samples have the advantage that optimal magnetic properties can be obtained from the as-sputtered films without any subsequent heat treatments. Normally bulk samples in this composition range form the two phase cellular structure whose magnetic properties are very sensitive to heat treatments. Single-phase TbCu7-type films of composition Sm13Co58Fe20Cu7Zr2 were sputter synthesized such that the crystallite c axes were oriented in the film plane. The net anisotropy field of the films remained larger than the maximum applied field of 18 kOe even at the highest measurement temperature of 460 °C. Thus all measurements were from minor hysteresis loops. The in-plane coercivity showed a monotonic decrease from 6.0 kOe at room temperature to 1.3 kOe at 460 °C. The in-plane remanent flux density decreased from 8.5 kG at 50 °C to 5.8 kG at 460 °C.

Recently the synthesis of a new high intrinsic coercive force, iHc=38.5 kOe at 293 K, Sm-Fe-Ti phase in film form was reported. Films with Al additions have now been made, and the preparation conditions are better defined. The addition of 2.3–4.5 at. % Al helped to sharpen the x-ray patterns of the high iHc samples. The iHc values for Al concentrations less than 4 at. % did not fall below 30 kOe for proper preparation conditions. The nominal composition for the high iHc phase samples spanned from 17 to 22 at. % Sm, and Ti/Fe ratios from 0.09 to 0.14 when related to Sm-Ti-Fe. The high iHc samples are reported to be composed of two Ti-substituted phases. The high iHc phase is found to be a SmCo5-related hexagonal structure with a nominal formula of Sm7(Fe,Ti)30. The Ti addition allows Ti to form dumbbell pairs in replacing Sm atoms. The semihard phase component is reported as a cubic Sm(Fe,Ti)2 phase. The iHc values were most sensitive to the Ti/(Ti+Fe) atomic ratio and rose at the rate of +6 kOe/%[Ti/(Ti+Fe)] as the nominal composition of 19 at. % Sm was approached and starts to decrease for higher ratios. Initial magnetization studies have been used to show the influence of the magnetic field that was applied during sputter depositions and crystallization.

Ion implantation has been used to nitride highly aligned ThMn12-type structure Nd(Fe,Co,Mo)12 film samples. The initial 1–12-type films were made by sputtering with the crystallite c axes aligned perpendicular to the film plane. The films were then nitrided to produce fully nitrided 1–12 films, but only for a limited range of N ion doses. Much of the 1–12 phase was made amorphous before full nitriding was observed. It was not possible to thermally anneal the N implanted samples to lower the α-Fe concentration resulting from the N ion bombardment. This is only consistent with the Nd(Fe,Co,Mo)12N phase being metastable. Low temperature heat treatments of the N implanted films at temperatures less than 270 °C produced evidence for Fe16N2 formation, but little restoration of the 1–12 phase. For heat treatments at temperatures of 270 °C and above no evidence of Fe16N2 was detected. These results indicate that it is not possible to produce nitrided ThMn12 films with Fe16N2 inclusions by ion implantation.