MFM and PEEM observation of micrometre-sized magnetic dot arrays fabricated by ion-microbeam irradiation in FeRh thin films

Abstract

FeRh thin films were irradiated with a 10 MeV iodine ion microbeam to produce micrometre-scale ferromagnetic microstructures by modifying the local magnetic character from antiferromagnetism to ferromagnetism using ion-microbeam irradiation. Two-dimensional magnetic dot arrays of dimensions ∼2 μm × 4 μm as well as 10 μm × 10 μm were successfully produced on the FeRh surface, which was confirmed by magnetic force microscopy (MFM). The results of photoemission electron microscopy (PEEM) combined with X-ray magnetic circular dichroism reveal that the easy axis of the magnetization of the ion-beam-irradiated ferromagnetism in the FeRh thin films lies in the film planes along the 001 direction of the MgO substrates. © 2012 International Union of Crystallography Printed in Singapore - All rights reserved.