A method of making a ferrite thin film is provided in which a portion of the iron ions in the ferrite are substituted by ions of at least one other metal. The substituting ions occupy both tetrahedral and octahedral sites in the unit cell of the ferrite crystal. The method includes placing each of a plurality of targets, one at a time, in close proximity to a substrate in a defined sequence; ablating the target thus placed using laser pulses, thereby causing ions from the target to deposit on the substrate; repeating these steps, thereby generating a film; and annealing the film in the presence of oxygen. The plurality of targets, the sequence of their ablation, and the number of laser pulses that each target is subjected to, are selected so as to allow the substituting ions to occupy both tetrahedral and octahedral sites in the unit cell.

An object of the present invention is to provide a new nanogranular structure material having magneto-optical properties different from those of existing nanogranular structure materials, and a method for producing the same. The nanogranular structure material has a composition represented by L-M-FO wherein L is at least one element selected from the group consisting of Fe, Co, and Ni, and M is at least one element selected from the group consisting of Li, Be, Mg, Al, Si, Ca, Sr, Ba, Bi, and rare earth elements, F is fluorine, and O is oxygen. The nanogranular structure material according to the present invention is composed of a matrix formed of a fluorine compound having a composition represented by M-F and metal oxide nanoparticles dispersed in the matrix and having a composition represented by L-O.

A method of forming a radially anisotropic toroidal magnetic core includes providing apparatus having a first magnet for providing a radial magnetic field extending across a cavity from an axial spindle to a surrounding second magnetic element, placing a substrate in the cavity, the substrate having a hole fitting around the head of the spindle; and sputter-depositing a film of ferromagnetic material onto the substrate. In an embodiment, the spindle is magnetically coupled to a first pole of the first magnet, the second magnetic element is coupled to a second pole of the first magnet, and a thermally conductive, nonmagnetic, insert separates the spindle and the second magnetic element.

A method of forming a radially anisotropic toroidal magnetic core includes providing apparatus having a first magnet for providing a radial magnetic field extending across a cavity from an axial spindle to a surrounding second magnetic element, placing a substrate in the cavity, the substrate having a hole fitting around the head of the spindle; and sputter-depositing a film of ferromagnetic material onto the substrate. In an embodiment, the spindle is magnetically coupled to a first pole of the first magnet, the second magnetic element is coupled to a second pole of the first magnet, and a thermally conductive, nonmagnetic, insert separates the spindle and the second magnetic element.

The present invention provides a manufacturing apparatus which can realize so-called sequential substrate transfer and can improve throughput, even when one multi-layered thin film includes plural layers of the same film type. A manufacturing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a transfer chamber, three sputtering deposition chambers each including one sputtering cathode, two sputtering deposition chambers each including two or more sputtering cathodes, and a process chamber for performing a process other than sputtering, and the three sputtering deposition chambers, the two sputtering deposition chambers, and the process chamber are arranged around the transfer chamber so that each is able to perform delivery and receipt of the substrate with the transfer chamber.

The present invention provides a manufacturing apparatus which can realize so-called sequential substrate transfer and can improve throughput, even when one multi-layered thin film includes plural layers of the same film type. A manufacturing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a transfer chamber, three sputtering deposition chambers each including one sputtering cathode, two sputtering deposition chambers each including two or more sputtering cathodes, and a process chamber for performing a process other than sputtering, and the three sputtering deposition chambers, the two sputtering deposition chambers, and the process chamber are arranged around the transfer chamber so that each is able to perform delivery and receipt of the substrate with the transfer chamber.

A sputtering target for a magnetic recording film containing SiO.sub.2, wherein a peak strength ratio of a (011) plane of quartz relative to a background strength (i.e. quartz peak strength/background strength) in an X-ray diffraction is 1.40 or more. An object of this invention is to obtain a sputtering target for a magnetic recording film capable of inhibiting the formation of cristobalites in the target which cause the generation of particles during sputtering, shortening the burn-in time, magnetically and finely separating the single-domain particles after deposition, and improving the recording density.

The present embodiments relate to a tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) element. The TMR element can include a free layer comprising a metallic alloy that is doped using a dopant element. In some instances, the metallic alloy comprises a cobalt-iron (CoFe) alloy. The present embodiments relate to doping a small amount of an element (e.g., hafnium (Hf), tantalum (Ta), Yttrium (Y)) in a high flux CoFe layer of a tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) element. The small amount of dopant can suppress a long-range order in the CoFe film. The amorphous state of a CoFe alloy can be induced by the dopant and result in a magnetically soft layer. A resistance of the TMR element can be modified based on an application of an external magnetic field to the free layer and the pin layer.

A PVD chamber for growing a magnetic film of NiFe alloy at a growth rate of greater than 200 nm/minute produces a film exhibiting magnetic skew of less than plus or minus 2 degrees, magnetic dispersion of less than plus or minus 2 degrees, DR/R of greater than 2 percent and film stress of less than 50 MPa. NiFe alloy is sputtered at a distance of 2 to 4 inches, DC power of 50 Watts to 9 kiloWats and pressure of 3 to 8 milliTorr. The chamber uses a unique field shaping magnetron having magnets arranged in outer and inner rings extending about a periphery of the magnetron except in two radially opposed regions in which the inner and outer rings diverge substantially toward a central axis of the magnetron.

A PVD chamber for growing a magnetic film of NiFe alloy at a growth rate of greater than 200 nm/minute produces a film exhibiting magnetic skew of less than plus or minus 2 degrees, magnetic dispersion of less than plus or minus 2 degrees, DR/R of greater than 2 percent and film stress of less than 50 MPa. NiFe alloy is sputtered at a distance of 2 to 4 inches, DC power of 50 Watts to 9 kiloWats and pressure of 3 to 8 milliTorr. The chamber uses a unique field shaping magnetron having magnets arranged in outer and inner rings extending about a periphery of the magnetron except in two radially opposed regions in which the inner and outer rings diverge substantially toward a central axis of the magnetron.