Provided is a sputtering target which can lower a heat treatment temperature for ordering a FePt magnetic phase and can suppress generation of particles during sputtering. The sputtering target is a nonmagnetic material-dispersed sputtering target containing Fe, Pt and Ge. The sputtering target includes at least one magnetic phase satisfying a composition represented by (Fe.sub.1-?Pt.sub.?).sub.1-?Ge.sub.?, as expressed in an atomic ratio for Fe, Pt and Ge, in which ? and ? represent numbers meeting 0.35???0.55 and 0.05???0.2, respectively. The magnetic phase has a ratio (S.sub.Ge30mass%/S.sub.Ge) of 0.5 or less. The ratio (S.sub.Ge30mass%/S.sub.Ge) is an average area ratio of Ge-based alloy phases containing a Ge concentration of 30% by mass or more (S.sub.Ge30mass%) to an area ratio of Ge (S.sub.Ge) calculated from the entire composition of the sputtering target, in element mapping by EPMA of a polished surface obtained by polishing a cross section perpendicular to a sputtering surface of the sputtering target.

The soft magnetic material multilayer deposition apparatus includes a circular arrangement of a multitude of substrate carriers in a circular inner space of a vacuum transport chamber. In operation the substrate carriers pass treatment stations. One of the treatment stations has a sputtering target made of a first soft magnetic material. A second treatment station includes a target made of a second soft magnetic material which is different from the first soft magnetic material of the first addressed target. A control unit controlling relative movement of the substrate carriers with respect to the treatment stations provides for more than one 360? revolution of the multitude of substrate carriers around the axis AX of the circular inner space of the vacuum transport chamber, while the first and second treatment stations are continuously operative.

An object of the present invention is to improve the mechanical strength of a sputtering target, and in order to achieve such an object, there is provided a sputtering target material including: in at. %, 10 to 50% of B; 0 to 20% in total of one or more elements selected from Ti, Zr, Hf, V, Nb, Ta, Cr, Mo, W, Mn, Re, Ru, Rh, Ir, Ni, Pd, Pt, Cu, and Ag; and the balance of at least one of Co and Fe, and unavoidable impurities, in which a hydrogen content is 20 ppm or less.

An object of the present invention is to reduce particles generated in sputtering, and in order to achieve such an object, there is provided a sputtering target material including in at. %: 10 to 50% of B; and the balance of at least one of Co and Fe, and unavoidable impurities, in which the intensity ratio [I [(CoFe).sub.3B]/I [(CoFe).sub.2B]] of the X-ray diffraction intensity [I [(CoFe).sub.3B]] of (CoFe).sub.3B (121) to the X-ray diffraction intensity [I [(CoFe).sub.2B]] of (CoFe).sub.2B (200), the intensity ratio [I (Co.sub.3B)/I (Co.sub.2B)] of the X-ray diffraction intensity [I (Co.sub.3B)] of Co.sub.3B (121) to the X-ray diffraction intensity [I (Co.sub.2B)] of Co.sub.2B (200), or the intensity ratio [I (Fe.sub.3B)/I (Fe.sub.2B)] of the X-ray diffraction intensity [I (Fe.sub.3B)] of Fe.sub.3B (121) to the X-ray diffraction intensity [I (Fe.sub.2B)] of Fe.sub.2B (200) is 1.50 or less.

A process for producing a magnetron sputtering target includes: mixing and dispersing an oxide powder and a magnetic metal powder, the magnetic metal powder containing a ferromagnetic metal element, to obtain a magnetic powder mixture; mixing and dispersing an oxide powder and each of a plurality of non-magnetic metal powders, the plurality of non-magnetic metal powders containing the ferromagnetic metal element, the plurality of non-magnetic metal powders containing a different constituent element from each other or containing constituent elements at different ratios from each other, to obtain a plurality of non-magnetic powder mixtures; and mixing and dispersing the magnetic powder mixture and the plurality of non-magnetic powder mixtures to obtain a powder mixture for pressure sintering.

A magnetic material sputtering target formed from a sintered body containing at least Co and/or Fe and B, and containing B in an amount of 10 to 50 at %, wherein an oxygen content is 100 wtppm or less. Since the magnetic material sputtering target of the present invention can suppress the generation of particles caused by oxides, the present invention yields superior effects of being able to improve the yield upon producing magnetoresistive films and the like.

Provided is a sputtering target which can lower a heat treatment temperature for ordering a FePt magnetic phase and can suppress generation of particles during sputtering. The sputtering target is a nonmagnetic material-dispersed sputtering target containing Fe, Pt and Ge. The sputtering target includes at least one magnetic phase satisfying a composition represented by (Fe.sub.1-Pt.sub.).sub.1-Ge.sub., as expressed in an atomic ratio for Fe, Pt and Ge, in which and represent numbers meeting 0.350.55 and 0.050.2, respectively. The magnetic phase has a ratio (S.sub.Ge30mass %/S.sub.Ge) of 0.5 or less. The ratio (S.sub.Ge30mass %/S.sub.Ge) is an average area ratio of Ge-based alloy phases containing a Ge concentration of 30% by mass or more (S.sub.Ge30mass %) to an area ratio of Ge (S.sub.Ge) calculated from the entire composition of the sputtering target, in element mapping by EPMA of a polished surface obtained by polishing a cross section perpendicular to a sputtering surface of the sputtering target.

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.

A sputter target for forming a layer of a perpendicular recording medium by magnetron sputtering, wherein material composition of the sputter target is varied along a radius of the sputter target from a centre of the sputter target to an outer diameter of the sputter target.

Provided is a sputtering target for a magnetic recording film. The sputtering target has a peak intensity ratio (I.sub.G/I.sub.D) of a G-band to a D-band of 5.0 or more in Raman scattering spectrometry. It is an object of the present invention to produce a magnetic thin film having a granular structure without using a high cost co-sputtering apparatus and to provide a sputtering target, in particular, an FePt-based sputtering target for a magnetic recording film, where carbon particles are dispersed in the target. Since carbon is a material which is not susceptible to being sintered and is susceptible to form aggregates, a conventional carbon-containing sputtering target has the problem that detachment of carbon lumps occurs during sputtering to result in generation of a large number of particles on the film. The present invention also addresses the problem of providing a high density sputtering target that can overcome the disadvantages.