Thin Solid Films, Vol.518, No.1, 319-323, 2009
Amorphous Terfenol-D films using nanosecond pulsed laser deposition
Thin films of Terfenol-D were produced by nanosecond pulsed laser deposition (PLD) at two fluences. Electron dispersive spectroscopy conducted using scanning electron and transmission electron microscopes showed that the film compositions were similar to that of the PLD target. Contrary to previous assertions that suggested that nanosecond PLD results in crystalline films, X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy analysis showed that the films produced at both fluences were amorphous. Splatters present on the film had similar compositions to the overall film and were also amorphous. Magnetic measurements showed that the films had high saturation magnetization and magnetostriction, similar to high quality films produced using other physical vapor deposition methods. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords:Laser ablation;Pulsed laser deposition;Amorphous;Crystallization;Terfenol-D;Magnetic properties and measurements;Transmission electron microscopy