Transverse Biased Initial Susceptibility Measurements of Magnetization Reversal in Fe/MgO(100) Thin Films

Abstract

Transverse biased initial susceptibility (TBIS) measurements were performed on Fe(100)/MgO(100) thin films, using a magnetooptical Kerr effect system. A peak detected in the TBIS curve when the magnetic field is applied along one of the easy axes, corresponding to a small step in the hysteresis loop, is associated with the uniaxial in-plane anisotropy superimposed on the crystalline biaxial. We proved that TBIS is a suitable and sensitive technique for the study of this phenomenon, and provides an accurate description of the magnetization reversal process.