Magnetic properties of sputtered barium ferrite thick films

The development of devices that combine a magnetic material with a semiconductor chip is a major focus of current research. Barium hexaferrite (BaFe12O19 or BaM) thick films are deposited here using a rf sputtering system. The films are amorphous and nonmagnetic after deposition. Postdeposition thermal annealings are employed to obtain magnetic properties. The effects of the substrate, thermal annealing and thickness of BaM on the magnetic properties are studied using a vibrating sample magnetometer. The initial results show good magnetic properties for the two subtrates studied and after thermal annealing above 800 °C. The magnetic properties of the thick films are close to the bulk (BaM) ones.