Simultaneous detection of perpendicular and in-plane magnetization component in a [Co/Pd]n perpendicular magnetic recording media

Abstract

Hall effect measurement has been used to detect the perpendicular and in-plane magnetization components simultaneously in a [Co/Pd]n multilayer thin film with strong magnetic anisotropy along the direction perpendicular to the film plane. The angle between the driving current direction and the in-plane projection of the applied magnetic field was varied to investigate the contribution of in-plane magnetization component to the measured Hall voltage. Hall voltage under the canted magnetic field revealed that the output is the superposition of the anomalous Hall effect (AHE) due to the perpendicular component of magnetization and the planar Hall effect (PHE) due to the in-plane magnetization component. Odd symmetry characteristics of AHE and even symmetry characteristics of PHE with respect to applied field have been applied to extract the Hall voltage contributed by the two different magnetization components from their combined characteristic. Anomalous Hall voltage from the perpendicular magnetization component exhibited an irreversible hysteresis loop while that from the in-plane magnetization component was found almost reversible with respect to applied magnetic field. The method was effective to evaluate the in-plane component of magnetization in an ultrathin film under the canted magnetic field.