Investigation of the Out of Plane Component of the Magnetization of [Fe₇₂Ga₂₈(x nm)/Tb₃₃Fe₆₇(50 nm)]₂ Multilayers

In this work the authors present their investigation on sputtered [Fe₇₂Ga₂₈/Tb₃₃Fe₃₇]₂ multilayers in which the Tb‐Fe thickness is kept fixed (50 nm), whereas the Fe‐Ga ranged from 25 to 100 nm. In particular, the authors have study the out of plane component of the magnetization by means of vibrating sample magnetometry and magnetic force microscopy. Samples are structurally characterized by X‐ray diffractometry and electron microscopy in order to correlate the magnetic characterization with the structural properties. In addition, the authors anneal the samples at 400 °C in order to analyze the effect of the thermal treatment on both, structural and magnetic properties. In the as‐grown samples, the out of plane component of the magnetization can be related to both, Tb‐Fe and Fe‐Ga. However, experimental results indicate that annealing reduces this component of the magnetization due to the crystallization of ordered phases in the Fe‐Ga layers.