Magnetic properties of CoFeB films with step-terrace surface morphology

초록

Co<inf>60</inf>Fe<inf>20</inf>B<inf>20</inf> (CoFeB) films was prepared on a 3° mis-cut (0001) Al<inf>2</inf>O<inf>3</inf> substrate by using DC Sputtering, and their magnetic properties were studied. An atomic force microscopy image showed that the CoFeB film had a step-terrace surface, and the magneto-optical Kerr effect measurement suggested that magnetic hysteresis had a clear difference for in-plane direction. CoFeB films had a magnetic easy axis along the longitudinal direction of the step-terrace, and the saturation magnetic field values were about 4.3 Oe for the easy-axis direction and about 48 Oe for the hard-axis direction, which is perpendicular to the step-terrace. CoFeB films had an uniaixal magnetic anisotropy with a period of 180° within the plane. The shape magnetic anisotropy energy in the step-terrace CoFeB film was roughly 2.5 times larger than a depsition magnetic anisotropy energy in a flat surface film. The surface morphology of the step-terrace was maintained up to a thickness of 50 nm, which was about 20 times the step-height, but the effect of the shape magnetic anisotropy decreased with increasing thickness. The direction dependent magnetic hysteresis behavior could be qualitativly explained by using a modified Stoner-Wohlfarth model. © This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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