1999/02/16 by T. Lorenz, A. Kaeufler, Lorenz, T. +9
Engineering · Materials Science · Physics and Astronomy · #FOS: Physical sciences #Magnetic Properties and Applications #Magnetic properties of thin films #Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci) #Metallic Glasses and Amorphous Alloys #cond-mat.mtrl-sci
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.cond-mat/9902222
14 pages, 4 figures
arxiv created 1999/02/16 · openalex publication_date 1999/02/16 · arxiv updated 2009/11/30 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Permalloy (Py:Ni81Fe19) exhibits an anisotropic magnetoresistance (AMR) which is very often used to read magnetic signals from storage devices. Py-films of thickness 20nm were prepared by dc-magnetron sputtering in a magnetic field onto thermally oxidized Si-wafers and annealed ex situ at temperatures up to 1000K in order to investigate the dependence of the magnetic anisotropy and the AMR on heat treatments. The films exhibit an uniaxial anisotropy after preparation which changes during annealing above 520K. The AMR along the former magnetically easy axis as well as the corresponding field sensitivity are increased by a heat treatment around 700K reaching maxima of about 8% and a maximum sensitivity of 1.5%/Oe, respectively. We discuss possible sources for the change in anisotropy, i.e. strain effects, inhomogeneities, and changes of the local atomic order.