Magnetic and electrical properties of FeSi/FeSi-ZrO₂ multilayers prepared by EB-PVD

FeSi/FeSi-ZrO₂ and FeSi/ZrO₂ multilayer materials were prepared by electron beam physical vapor deposition with the FeSi-ZrO ₂ layer thickness about 0.6μm, and their magnetic and electrical properties were studied as a function of FeSi layer thickness. With increasing FeSi layer thickness from 0.3 to 3μm, the coercivity decreased from 0.92 to 0.31kA/m and the saturation magnetization changed from 164 to 186emu/g. The effect of the layer number on the magnetic properties was discussed in terms of interfacial mixing and oxidation. It was also discovered that the magnetic properties of the multilayer materials were affected by the spacer material, exhibiting higher saturation magnetization and lower coercivity for the FeSi/FeSi-ZrO₂ than those for the FeSi/ZrO₂ with the same individual layer thicknesses. This behavior could be explained by the weaker magnetic interaction between FeSi layers separated by the non-magnetic ZrO ₂ layer. Furthermore, the electrical resistivity changed from 1850 to 1250 μΩcm for the multilayer materials for the FeSi thickness increasing from 0.30 to 3 μm.