Abstract

We study the in-plane magnetization process in 200Å Fe(001) thin films grown by sputtering at normal incidence. In spite of this growth geometry, a small uniaxial in plane magnetic anisotropy, whose origin is not totally understood, is found superimposed to the expected cubic biaxial one. This has a dramatic effect both on the reversal process and the domain structure. A combined longitudinal and transversal Kerr study shows the different switching processes (180° walls along the main easy axis versus 90° along the secondary easy axis) depending on the relative orientation of the magnetic field with respect to the Fe crystallographic axes. Remarkably, this two- and sometimes three-step switching process appears only when the field is applied along certain crystallographic directions. These findings are corroborated by domain observations.

Keywords: Thin films; Fe; Domains; Anisotropy; Sputtering

^*Corresponding author. Tel.: 34-91-8060700; fax: 34-91-8060701

[Full text] (PDF 437 Kb)

© Copyright 2001, Elsevier Science, All rights reserved.