Magneto-optical measurements of magnetization reversal in nanometer scale sputtered iron thin films

• Published in: Journal of magnetism and magnetic materials Vol. 163; no. 1-2; pp. 8 - 20
• Main Authors: Fert, A R, Postava, K, Bobo, J F, Ortega, M D, Raquet, B, Jaffres, H, Snoeck, E, Goiran, M, Redoules, J P
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 01.10.1996
• ISSN: 0304-8853

A magneto-optical study of the magnetic behavior of sputtered iron films of various thickness ranging from 2-50 nm grown on a silicon substrate is presented. The reflection coefficients in the case of an homogeneous magneto-optical layer with in-plane magnetization is calculated, and a technique in which both in-plane magnetization components are detected is described. Because of the axial deposition procedure, iron films exhibit in-plane uniaxial anisotropy depending on the thickness of the layer. In particular, It was shown that for 4 nm thickness, anisotropy induced by slightly tilted columnar growth can be observed, whereas for larger thicknesses this in-plane anisotropy vanishes. Using an accurate acquisition system based upon a rapid analog-to-digital converter the rapid magnetization reversal was measured. The field sweep rate was varied between 100 Oe/s and 1 MOe/s. The observed dynamical effects is interpreted in terms of wall movement and microdomain reversal.