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.

A rare-earth thin film magnet is provided which includes Nd, Fe and B as essential components, characterized by including a Si substrate having an oxide film present on a surface thereof, a Nd base film formed as a first layer over the Si substrate, and a NdFeB film formed as a second layer on the first layer. The rare earth thin film magnet and a production process therefor provides a rare earth thin film magnet suffering neither film separation nor substrate breakage and having satisfactory magnetic properties even when the second layer has composition in the range of 0.120 5 Nd/(Nd+Fe)<0.150, which corresponds to a compositional range in the vicinity of a stoichiometric composition.

A rare-earth thin film magnet is provided which includes Nd, Fe and B as essential components, characterized by including a Si substrate having an oxide film present on a surface thereof, a Nd base film formed as a first layer over the Si substrate, and a NdFeB film formed as a second layer on the first layer. The rare earth thin film magnet and a production process therefor provides a rare earth thin film magnet suffering neither film separation nor substrate breakage and having satisfactory magnetic properties even when the second layer has composition in the range of 0.120 5 Nd/(Nd+Fe)<0.150, which corresponds to a compositional range in the vicinity of a stoichiometric composition.

A permanent magnet includes a stack of N patterns stacked immediately one above the other in a stacking direction, each pattern including an antiferromagnetic layer made of antiferromagnetic material, a ferromagnetic layer made of ferromagnetic material, the directions of magnetization of the various ferromagnetic layers of all the patterns all being identical to one another. At least one ferromagnetic layer includes a first sub-layer made of CoFeB whose thickness is greater than 0.05 nm, and a second sub-layer made of a ferromagnetic material different from CoFeB and whose thickness is greater than the thickness of the first sub-layer.

A permanent magnet includes a stack of N patterns stacked immediately one above the other in a stacking direction, each pattern including an antiferromagnetic layer made of antiferromagnetic material, a ferromagnetic layer made of ferromagnetic material, the directions of magnetization of the various ferromagnetic layers of all the patterns all being identical to one another. At least one ferromagnetic layer includes a first sub-layer made of CoFeB whose thickness is greater than 0.05 nm, and a second sub-layer made of a ferromagnetic material different from CoFeB and whose thickness is greater than the thickness of the first sub-layer.

A rare earth thin-film magnet of a NdFeB film deposited on a Si substrate, wherein, when the film thickness of the rare earth thin film is 70 m or less, the Nd content satisfies the conditional expression of 0.15Nd/(Nd+Fe)0.25 in terms of an atomic ratio; when the film thickness of the rare earth thin film is 70 m to 115 m (but excluding 70 m), the Nd content satisfies the conditional expression of 0.18Nd/(Nd+Fe)0.25 in terms of an atomic ratio; and when the film thickness of the rare earth thin film is 115 m to 160 m (but excluding 115 m), the Nd content satisfies the conditional expression of 0.20Nd/(Nd+Fe)0.25 in terms of an atomic ratio. An object of the present invention is to provide a rare earth thin-film magnet having a maximum film thickness of 160 m and which is free from film separation and substrate fracture, and a method of producing such a rare earth thin-film magnet by which the thin film can be stably deposited.

A rare earth thin-film magnet of a NdFeB film deposited on a Si substrate, wherein, when the film thickness of the rare earth thin film is 70 m or less, the Nd content satisfies the conditional expression of 0.15Nd/(Nd+Fe)0.25 in terms of an atomic ratio; when the film thickness of the rare earth thin film is 70 m to 115 m (but excluding 70 m), the Nd content satisfies the conditional expression of 0.18Nd/(Nd+Fe)0.25 in terms of an atomic ratio; and when the film thickness of the rare earth thin film is 115 m to 160 m (but excluding 115 m), the Nd content satisfies the conditional expression of 0.20Nd/(Nd+Fe)0.25 in terms of an atomic ratio. An object of the present invention is to provide a rare earth thin-film magnet having a maximum film thickness of 160 m and which is free from film separation and substrate fracture, and a method of producing such a rare earth thin-film magnet by which the thin film can be stably deposited.

An iron-based magnetic thin film comprising from 0% to 25% of aluminum in terms of atomic ratio; wherein the iron-based magnetic thin film comprises a plurality of crystals having an average crystallite size of 100 or less; the iron-based magnetic thin film is disposed on a surface of a substrate; and a <110> direction of a crystal of the iron-based magnetic thin film is perpendicular to the surface of the substrate.

An iron-based magnetic thin film comprising from 0% to 25% of aluminum in terms of atomic ratio; wherein the iron-based magnetic thin film comprises a plurality of crystals having an average crystallite size of 100 or less; the iron-based magnetic thin film is disposed on a surface of a substrate; and a <110> direction of a crystal of the iron-based magnetic thin film is perpendicular to the surface of the substrate.

The present disclosure is to provide a ferromagnetic tunnel junction element and a method of manufacturing the ferromagnetic tunnel junction element capable of avoiding changes in the characteristics of the element and maintaining a high fabrication yield, while avoiding an increase in the area occupied by the element and an increase in the number of manufacturing steps. The ferromagnetic tunnel junction element to be provided includes: a first magnetic layer; a first insulating layer disposed on the first magnetic layer; a second magnetic layer containing a magnetic transition metal, the second magnetic layer being disposed on the first insulating layer; and a magnesium oxide film containing the magnetic transition metal, the magnesium oxide film being disposed to cover the side surfaces of the second magnetic layer.