Study on Crystallinity and Magnetic Properties of NiCuZn Ferrite Films Deposited by RF Sputtering

Abstract

Nickel-zinc ferrite proves to be the top-performing material in terms of soft magnetic features for high-frequency applications. The purpose of this study is to explore the impact of various factors such as sputtering pressure, substrate temperature, sputtering power, and sputtering gas, on the magnetic and structural properties of NiCuZn ferrite thin films. In this research, radio-frequency magnetron sputtering of NiCuZn ferrite thin films on silicon substrates was used to investigate the matter. The study demonstrates that reducing sputtering pressure enhances the crystallization of NiCuZn ferrite films and improves their magnetic properties. The saturation magnetization and crystallinity of the thin films initially increased, then decreased as substrate temperature and sputtering power increased. Furthermore, the sputtered films exhibited higher crystallinity and saturation magnetization in a pure Ar atmosphere compared to an oxygen-containing environment. In this study, we optimized the sputtering parameters to achieve a maximum saturation magnetization strength of 253 emu/cc.