Magnetization reversal processes in epitaxial Fe/GaAs(001) films

Abstract

In situ control of electronic phase separation in La1/8 Pr4/8Ca3/8MnO3/PNM-PT thin films using ferroelectricpoling-induced strain J. Appl. Phys. 113, 013705 (2013) Transport and magnetic properties of Fe doped CaMnO3 J. Appl. Phys. 112, 123913 (2012) Simulations of magnetic nanoparticle Brownian motion J. Appl. Phys. 112, 124311 (2012) Ferromagnetism, hysteresis and enhanced heat dissipation in assemblies of superparamagnetic nanoparticles J. Appl. Phys. 112, 114912 (2012) Defect mediated reversible ferromagnetism in Co and Mn doped zinc oxide epitaxial films J. Appl. Phys. 112, 113917 (2012) Additional information on J. Appl. Phys. In this article we present the results of a detailed study of the switching behavior observed in epitaxial single Fe films of thickne.ss between 30 and 450 A, and a wedge shaped Fe film with a thickness range of 111-60 ,& grown on GaAs (001). These films have cubic and uniaxial anisotropies which change with film thickness. For the fixed thickness films the values of the anisotropy constants were accurately determined by Brillouin light scattering (BLS) measurements together with polar magneto-optic Kerr effect (MOKE) measurements that gave the value of the magnetization. The switching behavior of these samples was observed with in-plane MOKE magnetometry as a function of the angle between the applied field and the in-plane crystallographic axes. Measurements of the component of magnetization perpendicular to the applied field allow a precise determination of the relative orientation of the hard and easy in-plane anisotropy axes. This can be used to accurately determine the ratio of uniaxial to cubic anisotropy constants, when this ratio is less than one. The ratios obtained from MOKE agree well with those obtained from BLS. Minimum energy calculations predict that the reversal process should proceed by a continuous rotation of the magnetization vector with either one or two irreversible jumps, depending on the applied field orientation and the nature of the anisotropy of the film. The calculations provide a good qualitative description of the observed reversal process, although the magnetic microstructure influences the exact values of the switching fields.

Strong crystal anisotropy of magneto-transport property in Fe3Si epitaxial film

“…However, to clarify the reason for the results of the strong uni-axial anisotropic property, samples with different Fe concentrations and thicknesses must be studied. The angle between the strong uni-axial axis and the easy axis can be determined by [16] cos 2y ¼ À9K u =K 1 9 for 9K u =K 1 9 r 1…”

Transport characterization of the magnetic anisotropy of (Ga,Mn)As

“…) towards the uniaxial easy axis [9]. The resulting "global easy axes" appear as diagonals of a characteristic rectangle in the RPP, where the uniaxial easy axis is along the median line of the longer edge.…”

Magneto-optical study of magnetization reversal asymmetry in exchange bias

“…Most previous analytical MOKE descriptions deal with Kerr rotation detection with a crossed analyzer, [12][13][14][15] as opposed to our diode bridge technique. Here, we derive analytical expressions for observations of the pure components M L and M T .…”