Preparation and microstructure of Nd-Fe-B thin films by magnetron sputtering

Magnetron sputtering was used to prepare Nd-Fe-B thin films, and the influences of process parameters on surface morphology and structure of Nd-Fe-B thin films were investigated. The results show that the deposition rate, surface morphology and microstructure of the films are related to sputtering power, argon pressure and sputtering time. With increasing sputtering power, the deposition rate increases monotonically, which results in the increases of the grain size and the roughness. With increasing argon pressure, the deposition rate increases firstly and then decreases. For the films sputtered at low sputtering power,α-Fe phase appears on the XRD patterns and the Nd ₂Fe₁₄B phase is fewer. For the films sputtered at high sputtering power,α-Fe phase disappears and a lot of Nd₂Fe ₁₄B phase exists in the film. According above the best sputtering power is 100∼130 W.