Magnetic properties of rare-earth transition-metal alloy films prepared by oblique incidence method

Ferromagnetic thin films of Sm-Co and Sm-Fe system were prepared by the oblique incidence method. The saturation flux density of both systems decreases rapidly with the increase of Sm concentration. Coercive force of 2.0 kOe in Sm-Co and 1.0 kOe in Sm-Fe films were obtained at an incident angle of 45°. These films were magnetically anisotropic and the magnetic easy direction was always aligned for perpendicular direction of the incident plane. The structure of the film in the present work seemd to be amorphous in which microdomains were orientated by the oblique incidence, in contrast to the columnar grane structure found in Fe and Co films prepared by the oblique incidence.