Mössbauer study of the field induced uniaxial anisotropy in electro-deposited FeCo alloy films

Abstract

Thin ferromagnetic films with in-plane magnetic anisotropy are promising materials for obtaining high microwave permeability. The paper reports on the Mössbauer study of the field induced in-plane uniaxial anisotropy in electro-deposited $FeCo$ alloy films. The $FeCo$ alloy films have been prepared by electro-deposition method with and without external magnetic field applied parallel to the film plane during deposition. The vibrating sample magnetometry and Mössbauer spectroscopy measurements at room temperature indicate that the film deposited in external field shows an in-plane uniaxial anisotropy with an easy direction coincides with the external field direction and a hard direction perpendicular to the field direction, whereas the film deposited without external field doesn't show any in-plane anisotropy. Mössbauer spectra taken in three geometric arrangements show that the magnetic moments are almost constrained in the film plane for the film deposited with applied magnetic field. And the magnetic moments are tend to align in the direction of the applied external magnetic field during deposition, indicating that the observed anisotropy should be attributed to directional ordering of atomic pairs.

4 pages, 3 figures, 1 table