Vol.:(0123456789) 1 3 Applied Physics A (2019) 125:794 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-019-3096-5 Role of low substrate temperature deposition on Co–Fe thin flms Gizem Durak Yüzüak 1  · E. Yüzüak 2  · V. Nevruzoğlu 1  · İ. Dinçer 3 Received: 25 July 2019 / Accepted: 23 October 2019 © Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2019 Abstract This paper presents the role of the conventional and Soliton wave model deposition at low substrate temperature (300–100 K) on the structural, electric and magnetic properties of Co 35 Fe 65 thin flms deposited by thermal evaporation using bulk poly- crystalline Co 35 Fe 65 alloy. On account of obtaining superior quality magnetic thin flms without any high temperature growth processes or heat treatment, the Soliton wave growth model at suitable low temperature range is used. X-ray difraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) techniques are employed to investigate the various structural properties. Morphological and structural analyses of entire 30 nm Co 35 Fe 65 thin flms deposited on Si (100) substrate reveal that the stoichiometry is preserved over the whole temperature deposition and BCC crystalline formed with (110) texture. To attain the electrical and magnetic properties, resistivity and vibrating-sample magnetometer (VSM) measurements are evaluated. Soliton wave model deposition signifcantly increased magnetic anisotropy constant K 1 = 0.105 Merg/cm 3 , M R /M S = 0.83 and coercivity H C = 272 Oe at 300 K when the compared to conventional deposition range in this work (K 1 = 0.014 Merg/cm 3 , M R /M S = 0.6 and H C = 50 Oe). Growth with novel approach of Co 35 Fe 65 thin flms highlights the reasonable low coercivity, the high saturation magnetization, the high magnetic anisotropy and the low electrical resistivity values, with tailored grain size, make them feasible to use in magnetic sensor technology in the near future. 1 Introduction Magnetic sensors take a key role on the improvement and advancement of modern society. These sensors could be used in practically whole engineering and industrial sec- tors, such as digital reading heads in hard disk technol- ogy, navigation equipment, military security and tracking systems applications, contactless trial methods, magnetic modifers, and labelling usages, geo-magnetic, microwave devices, spintronic applications and bio-magnetic applica- tions and so on [1]. Magnetic sensors are mentioned previ- ously fulfl the sensing by turning the static magnetic feld magnitude directly into the electrical signal. The accuracy of the magnetic sensors in the feld of application fnds out the potential usage of the application. Due to exceptional relatively superior soft magnetic properties, such as large in-plane uniaxial anisotropy feld and high saturation mag- netization, Co–Fe has been proposed for applications in attractive potentiality for the usage. Besides the sensitivity, production costs and power consumption also occupy an important role which infuences the use of magnetic sen- sors in handy applications. Due to the limited resources of the world, the idea of obtaining superior-quality magnetic materials which occurs in non-equilibrium condition at low costs is being studied by scientists so remarkably in recent years. Along with the increasing necessity for the develop- ment miniaturization of electromagnetic devices has intensi- fed studies on nano structures such as thin flms at a rapidly increasing rate [2]. Depending on the requirements of the application, soft magnetic features of Co–Fe can be fne-tuned by appropri- ate composition selection [3–5]. The Fe-rich Co 35 Fe 65 alloy with the B s = 2.45 T saturation magnetization depicts the highest saturation magnetization of all inter-transition-metal alloys in the vicinity of room temperature [6]. The most common methods for production of these materials in thin flm form using magnetron sputtering technique and thermal * Gizem Durak Yüzüak gizemyuzuak@erdogan.edu.tr 1 Department of Energy Systems Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan University, Rize, Turkey 2 Department of Material Science and Nanotechnology Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan University, Rize, Turkey 3 Department of Physical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Ankara University, Ankara, Turkey