ISSN:
1089-7550
Source:
AIP Digital Archive
Topics:
Physics
Notes:
Thin films of cobalt, nickel, and their alloys have been produced on glass substrates by thermal evaporation at oblique angles of incidence α, measured with respect to the substrate normal, ranging from 20° to 78°. Resultant films are characterized by a columnar grain structure inclined toward the source by an angle β, also measured with respect to the substrate normal, such that 2 tan β∼tan α. For α〉60°, the columnar grains assume a rodlike morphology surrounded by voids, whereas for α〈60°, these grains assume a platelike morphology, also inclined toward the source and separated by voids. The void size, defined by spacing between adjacent rods or plates, increases with increasing values of α. Moreover, for α〉60°, the easy axis of magnetization is oriented in the vapor plane, defined by the plane parallel to both the direction of incident flux and substrate normal, whereas, for α〈60°, this axis is oriented perpendicular to the vapor plane. Accordingly, the easy axis of magnetization is oriented parallel to the rodlike morphology when α〉60°, and parallel to the platelike morphology (and in the plane of the film), when α〈60°. Finally, magnetic coercivity increases rapidly at the critical angle of 60°, as transition from platelike to rodlike morphology occurs.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.338629
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