Beneficial effect of rapid recurrent thermal annealing on magnetic properties of SmCo-based films

Abstract The effects of conventional thermal annealing (CTA) and rapid recurrent thermal annealing (RRTA) on the magnetic properties of the SmCo-based films were investigated. The results show that the CTA-treated films exhibit amorphous structure with coercivity insensitively depending on annealing parameters as anticipated. As for the RRTA-treated films, single TbCu 7 -type phase structure with well crystallization is observed. The coercivity of the RRTA-treated films is strongly correlated with annealing parameters, and its optimum value is larger than that of the CTA-treated films. It is suggested that the RRTA treatment has beneficial effects on the magnetic properties of the SmCo-based films.