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The magnetic properties of sputtered iron-based films can be significantly different when deposited on sloping surfaces. For example, anisotropy fields, H/sub k/, and easy axis coercivities, H/sub ce/, of Fe(N)/NiFe(N) films in this study were as much as two orders of magnitude higher on 60/spl deg/ tilted surfaces than on flat surfaces. The use of high substrate bias during deposition effectively lessened increases of H/sub k/ and H/sub ce/. These parameters were largely independent of the nitrogen content of the films, implying the observed increases were not strongly dependent on magnetostriction. The large H/sub k/ and the H/sub ce/ values are believed to be caused by a shape anisotropy associated with angle-of-incidence deposition and film crystallite morphology. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Thin films of Nd/sub 2/Fe/sub 14/B (/spl sim/30-60 nm) were grown with c-axis texture by means of molecular beam epitaxy. A two-phase structure is observed in both the X-ray diffraction and the hysteresis loops, due to an interfacial reaction during the initial growth. Coercivities are 1-2 T at 20 K, and the anisotropy fields are bulk-like. Microstructural analysis by atomic and magnetic force microscopies reveal lateral grain sizes of /spl sim/200 nm, which could explain the hard magnetic properties. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]