[labnetwork] Sputtering Galfenol (FeGa alloy)?

[Shimon Eliav]

Hi Tim,

Some good years ago I used to grow bulk GaAs (Czochralsky, Bridgman).
As a material I don't think Ga poses a threat for your sputtering system. Just an important remark: Ga is liquid at room temperature. I don't know how the target of Galfenol was made, but if it has "islands" of Ga (not homogeneous alloy), Ga can go out of the target when heated above room temperature and make a mess into your system.
Good luck!
Regards,

Shimon Eliav
The Unit for Nano Fabrication
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem

From: labnetwork-bounces at mtl.mit.edu [mailto:labnetwork-bounces at mtl.mit.edu] On Behalf Of Tim Gilheart
Sent: Tuesday, July 10, 2018 11:19 PM
To: labnetwork at mtl.mit.edu
Subject: [labnetwork] Sputtering Galfenol (FeGa alloy)?

Greetings all,

Glad to catch up with a number of you during the recent UGIM conference.

I received a request for sputtering of Galfenol (an alloy of Fe and Ga, with up to 27% Ga), one of several uncommon alloys he’s discussed with me as he explores the right combination of magnetostriction and magnetic permeability for his application. (He’s already decided against Terfenol-D, a TbDyFe alloy that might be more problematic.) My user sent me this article about Galfenol, in case that’s useful: https://aip.scitation.org/doi/10.1063/1.1540130

I was wondering if anyone had experience with introducing Ga to a shared multi-gun sputtering tool and/or any cautionary tales to share on the subject.

For reference, our tool has been used for magnetic materials on occasion, so Fe is not really a concern.

Thanks,

--
Tim Gilheart, Ph.D.
Research Scientist - Nanofabrication Clean Room Manager,
Shared Equipment Authority (SEA), Rice University
Cell: 832-341-5488 | Office: 713-348-3159 | gilheart at rice.edu<mailto:gilheart at rice.edu>


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