https://doi.org/10.1140/epjb/s10051-024-00729-w
Regular Article - Solid State and Materials
An experimental study of the static magnetic properties of Co thin films
Laboratory of Surfaces and Interfaces Studies of Solid Materials (LESIMS), Department of Physics, Faculty of Technology, SETIF1 University Ferhat ABBAS, 19000, Setif, Algeria
a kharmouche_ahmed@univ-setif.dz, kharmouche_ahmed@yahoo.fr
Received:
18
January
2024
Accepted:
12
June
2024
Published online:
25
June
2024
Thermal heating process has been used, under a pressure of 10−7 mbar, to deposit thin films of cobalt onto monocrystalline silicon substrate. The incident beam strikes the substrates under normal incidence. The thickness ranges from 50 to 400 nm. To investigate the static magnetic properties, the hysteresis loops are performed by means of alternating gradient field magnetometer device. The zero-field magnetic structure has been investigated by magnetic force microscopy (MFM) technique, using a Veeco 3100 apparatus. MFM images reveal well-defined stripe patterns, mainly for the thickest films, which infer the dominance of the magnetocrystalline anisotropy. The easy magnetization axis lies within the plane of the film with a small component out-of-the plane for the thicker films. Coercivity evolution versus thickness follows a t−n Néel law, characteristic of Bloch domain wall motion. In addition, it was found that coercivity depends plainly on the surface roughness of the films.
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© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to EDP Sciences, SIF and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2024. Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
