Abstract
High-permeability magnetic films can enhance the inductance of thin-film inductors in dc-dc converters. The FeCoHfO/AlO x multilayered films were fabricated by dc reactive magnetron co-sputtering. Inserting the AlO x layers can decrease the anisotropic field of the FeCoHfO magnetic films, which was beneficial to raise the permeability of the FeCoHfO/AlO x multilayered films. With this optimum configuration of a nine-layer structure [FeCoHfO (133 nm)/AlO x (10 nm)] 9 , low anisotropic field (H K = 65 Oe) and high permeability (permeability over 170 at 30-50 MHz) were obtained. The permeability increased nearly six times from 30 (M1) to 175 (M9). The permeability was evidently improved by the employment multilayered coating. © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.