This study shows highly c-axis textured thin ferromagnetic Co-based alloy (CoCrTa) film growth in inductively coupled plasma (ICP)-assisted sputtering with an internal coil with an insulated surface. Dynamic control of the substrate bias achieved highly c-axis textured CoCrTa film with a thickness of 70 nm in 3 min depositions on a Si substrate. The prepared film showed a smooth. dense surface consisting of small crystal grains. The film had a perpendicular magnetic coercivity of 1030 Oe and coercive squareness of 0.36. ICP-assisted sputtering with an internal coil with an insulated surface enabled higher-density (less than or equal to1.0 X 10(11) cm(-3)) plasma with lower space potential (less than or equal to30 V) compared to ICP-assisted sputtering with bare coil systems. Therefore, the proposed bias control is quite effective for textured growth of thinner Co layers via the effect of a high flux of ions with proper energies. This method can be a candidate for the deposition technique of c-axis textured films as perpendicular magnetic recording, media. (C) 2005 American Vacuum Society.