Abstract
The Fe-TM-C-N nanocrystalline films (TM : Hf, Zr and Nb) are investigated to examine the relation between microstructure and soft magnetic properties. In these films, as the atomic radius of TM element increases, $P_{N2}$ which was added to get good soft magnetic properties was decreased and the maximum value of the permeability shifted to the high Fe range in the composition diagram. The best soft magnetic properties achieved in these films are : Hc of 0.15 Oe, $\mu_{eff}$ of 7800 (1MHz) and $4{\pi}M_{s}$ of 17.5 kG in Fe-Hf-C-N film ; Hc of 0.06 Oe, $\mu_{eff}$ of 2750 (1MHz) and $4{\pi}M_{s}$ of 16.8 kG in Fe-Zr-C-N film and Hc of 0.31 Oe; $\mu_{eff}$ of 2100 (1MHz) and $4{\pi}M_{s}$ of 15.5 kG in Fe-Nb-C-N film. It was considered that the stronger the bonding force between TM and C(N), the finer TM(C,N) phase is precipitated and therefore, the finer $\alpha$-Fe grains are formed. The effective permeability of the Fe-Zr-C-N films and Fe-Nb-C-N films remains nearly constant up to 10 MHz.