Amorphous Terfenol-D Films Using Nanosecond Pulsed Laser Deposition

James Ma^{a, 1,} , Daniel T. O'Brien^{b, 2,} and Desiderio Kovar^{a, c,}

^aMaterials Science and Engineering Program

^bDepartment of Electrical and Computer Engineering

^cDepartment of Mechanical Engineering, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78731 USA

Received 2 February 2009; revised 14 July 2009; accepted 14 July 2009. Available online 23 July 2009.

Corresponding author.: Tel.: +1 512 471 6271, fax. +1 512 471 7681.
¹ Now at Northrup Grumman Aerospace Systems, One Space Park, Redondo Beach, CA 90278 USA
² Now at Equipe Micro-Systèmes Magnétique, G2Elab - Grenoble Electrical EngineeringCNRS UMR.5269 - Grenoble-INP - UJF, BP46 - Domaine Universitaire Bât. ENSE3, St-Martin d'Hères cedex 38402, France

Abstract
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.
© 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Laser Ablation; Amorphous; Crystallization; Magnetic properties and measurements