Regensburg 2013 – scientific programme
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MA: Fachverband Magnetismus
MA 26: Magnetic Thin Films I of 2
MA 26.8: Talk
Wednesday, March 13, 2013, 11:30–11:45, H3
Out-of-plane vectorial magnetometry on a thin (CoFe)77Tb23 film investigated by a new multichromatic dual-beam magnetometer based on the magnetooptic Kerr effect — •Timo Kuschel, Gerhard Götz, Zoe Kugler, and Günter Reiss — University of Bielefeld, Germany
Magnetic thin films with out-of-plane (OOP) magnetic easy axis are key components for spintronic devices like magnetic tunnel junctions which use OOP magnetization. Current investigations focus on thin (CoFe)1−xTbx films which are partially preferred OOP magnetized.
In order to illustrate the OOP reversal process of the magnetization in such magnetic systems a detailed vectorial magnetometry study is performed on an exemplary (CoFe)77Tb23 film. A new home-built multichromatic dual-beam magnetometer is used for the measurements based on the magnetooptic Kerr effect. The components of the magnetization vector during the reversal process can be determined using s- and p-polarized incident light and varied azimuthal sample alignment with respect to the plane of incidence of light.
The results show a monodomain remanent state which is not completely OOP aligned. The observed details of the reversal process reveal a coherent rotation of the magnetization from OOP alignment (0∘) in magnetic saturation to more than 45∘ tilting for small reversed OOP magnetic field strength. During the magnetic switching the magnetic moment of the film is decreased down to less than 25% due to domain splitting. Afterwards, the monodomain state is reached again and the magnetization rotates coherently into reversed OOP direction.