Influence of Hydrogen on the Structure of Amorphous Sputtered Fe-Co-Tb Films by Means of Wide and Small Angle Neutron Scattering

Abstract

Sputtered amorphous Fe Co Tb-films with perpendicular and in-plane magnetic anisotropy were investigated by wide- and small angle neutron scattering. By combination with X-ray data the maxima in the pair correlation function could be attributed to the individual atomic pairs. Thus also partial coordination numbers and a short range order parameter could be determined. Wide angle diffraction revealed that the film with magnetic in-plane anisotropy contained 13 atomic percent hydrogen. The hydrogen incorporation causes substantial changes in the short range order, associated with enhanced formation of Tb-rich clusters, and the in-plane anisotropy. The clustering effect was confirmed by results from small angle scattering with polarized neutrons. © 1991, Walter de Gruyter. All rights reserved.