GROWTH AND MAGNETIC PROPERTIES OF DC MAGNETRON SPUTTERED Co0.2Fe0.8 THIN FILM

Abstract

We report the growth and characterization of the [Formula: see text][Formula: see text] thin film. The thin film was deposited on Si (100) substrate by using a direct-current magnetron sputtering deposition technique. The Grazing Incidence X-ray Diffraction (GIXRD) analysis suggests a bcc crystal structure with a lattice constant of 2.87[Formula: see text]. The X-ray reflectivity (XRR) data analysis shows the thickness of the [Formula: see text][Formula: see text] thin film is about 30 nm. The Energy Dispersive X-ray (EDAX) analysis shows the presence of 22.94% of Co and 77.06% of Fe in [Formula: see text][Formula: see text] thin film. The Magneto-Optic Kerr Effect (MOKE) technique was used to investigate the magnetic properties and results support that [Formula: see text][Formula: see text]thin film exhibits soft magnetic character. The analysis of the M–H loop suggests that the value of the coercive field decreases with the increase of angle with respect to the magnetic easy axis. The MOKE measurement suggests that [Formula: see text][Formula: see text] thin film alloy exhibits the least anisotropy with two-fold magnetic anisotropy. Magnetization reversibility was observed by using high-resolution Kerr microscopy. The domain images showed that reversibility occurs through nucleation and domain wall motion. Magnetic anisotropy dispersion was also observed which may be due to the misalignment of grains in the film due to which we got the least anisotropy. These properties of the prepared sample found potential application in the field of spintronics and magnetic sensors.