Magnetic interactions in CoCr films sputtered with different magnetron configurations.

Abstract The aim of this work is to investigate the influence of the magnetron configuration on the magnetic interactions in DC magnetron sputtered Cr/Co 88 Cr 12 films on a PET substrate. The sputter pressure is used as an extra parameter. Four different magnetron configurations were investigated, two of type I and two of type II. With a type I magnetron the optimum sputter pressure is lower than with a type II magnetron. In type I configurations (low ion bombardment) the optimum sputter pressure is determined by an optimum voided structure. In type II magnetrons a high ion bombardment shifts the optimum voided structure to higher sputter pressures due to the compensation of the shadowing effect during sputtering. The optimum voided structure is characterised by remanence and AFM measurements.