In situ surface magneto-optical Kerr effect (s-MOKE) study of ultrathin soft magnetic FeCuNbSiB alloy films

Herein we report on an in situ surface magneto-optical Kerr effect (s-MOKE) study of ion-beam-sputtered ultra-thin films of an amorphous Fe73.9Cu0.9Nb3.1Si13.2B8.9 (FINEMET) alloy with film growth that ranges from a fraction of a nm to a few tens of nms. Extrapolating the linear variation of the Kerr signal with film thickness suggests the absence of a magnetic dead layer at the substrate/FINEMET film interface, and hence the absence of any intermixing. The presence of a thin SiO2 film at the surface of the Si substrate may be responsible for preventing possible intermixing of Fe with Si to form nonmagnetic silicide. Close to the onset of ferromagnetic ordering, a steep increase in the coercive field with film thickness can be explained in terms of the Volmer–Weber growth of the film. Furthermore, the temperature dependence of the hysteresis loops of a 41 nm-thick FINEMET film has been studied. The Curie temperature of the amorphous film is found to be lower than that of a ribbon of the same composition. The origin of a uniaxial magnetic anisotropy in the as-prepared stage is attributed to the generation of some long-range stresses in the film, which are relieved close to the onset temperature for nanocrystallization.