OPTIMAL SPUTTERING CONDITIONS FOR HIGH-DENSITY MAGNETIC RECORDING MEDIA BY FTS

Co-based alloy thin films ddeposited by fcing targets sputtering(FTS) were investigated for use in high-density magnetic recording media to determine how their magnetic properties are dependent on the sputtering conditions, and thus to find appropriate parameters that allow the sputtering and thin films to meet the specificiations for magnetic properties. FTS can discharge at lower working gas pressure than other sputtering methods such as dcmagnetron sputteing because the plasma is sufficiently confined by a magnetic field applied perpendicular to both of the target planes, which results in plasma-free substrates. Co-Cr-Ta films were deposited by FTS on glass and silicon substrates at substrate temperature between room temperature and $350^{\circ}C$, and at argon gas pressure between 0.1 and 10mTorr. The films were also deposited on polyimide tapes at substrate temperature of $130^{\circ}C$ and argon gas pressure of 1 mTorr. The effective advantages of Ta as an additional element were investigated, using the same films on the tapes. As a result of the experiment, it was found that better magnetic properties were obtained in the ranges of higher temperature and lower argon gas pressure with background pressure in thr range of $1.5 \times 10^{-6}$ Torr. Ta addition at 2 to 4 atomic percent almost havled the Co-Cr grain sizes, indicating that Ta addition at an appropriate atomic percent is effective for improving the microstructure and characteristics of Co-Cr films.