Magnetic anisotropy of Fe/Cu(110) films studied by in-situ Brillouin light scattering

Abstract

In-situ Brillouin light scattering has been used to study the magnetic anisotropy of thin Fe(110) films grown by e-beam evaporation on a Cu(110) single crystal. Structural analysis revealed that, as the Fe thickness exceeds about 4-6 Å, a fcc-bcc phase transition occurs. Measurement of the Damon-Eshbach spin-wave frequency as a function of the incidence angle of light, of the intensity and of the direction of the external magnetic field in the film plane, enabled us to determine the film thickness, the saturation magnetization, the out-of-plane anisotropy constant and both the uniaxial and the biaxial in-plane magnetic anisotropy. Evidence is given for a strong in-plane uniaxial anisotropy, induced by the Cu(110) substrate, which persists even in films as thick as 100 Å.