400-fold reduction in saturation field by interlayering

W. F. Egelhoff, J. Bonevich, P. Pong, C. R. Beauchamp, G. R. Stafford, J. Unguris, and R. D. McMichael

Journal of Applied Physics 105(1), 013921 (2009)

Abstract:

The buildup of stress with increasing thickness of magnetic thin films is a common phenomenon that often induces undesirable anisotropies that can convert an otherwise magnetically soft film into a magnetically hard one. We found that by interlayering such a magnetic thin film with films that are either not lattice matched or have a different crystal structure, reductions in the saturation field as large as 400-fold can be achieved. Differences in grain size appear to be responsible.




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