Measuring the effects of low energy ion milling on the magnetization of Co/Pd multilayers using scanning electron microscopy with polarization analysis

Published

April 30, 2010

Author(s)

Benjamin James McMorran, Aaron C. Cochran, Randy K. Dumas, Kai Liu, Paul Morrow, Daniel T. Pierce, John Unguris

Abstract

The dependence of the magnetic properties of Co/Pd multilayer films with very thin individual layers, Co(0.4nm)/Pd(0.6nm), on the energy of ion milling is investigated using scanning electron microscopy with polarization analysis (SEMPA). The effect of Ar ion milling on the Co/Pd magnetization angle distribution is compared for ion milling at 50 eV, 1 keV, and 2 keV. We find that 1 keV and 2 keV Ar ion milling causes a measureable change in the out-of-plane magnetization angle distribution as material is removed, but ion milling with 50 eV Ar ions does not significantly alter the magnetization distribution. This enables quantitative imaging of all three vector components of the surface magnetization of the Co/Pd multilayer films with 20 nm spatial resolution using SEMPA.

Citation

Journal of Applied Physics

Volume

107

Issue

9

Pub Type

Journals

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Keywords

magnetisim, multilayer, Co/Pd, SEMPA, vertical anisotropy, ion milling

Citation

, B. , Cochran, A. , Dumas, R. , Liu, K. , Morrow, P. , Pierce, D. and Unguris, J. (2010), Measuring the effects of low energy ion milling on the magnetization of Co/Pd multilayers using scanning electron microscopy with polarization analysis, Journal of Applied Physics, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=904208 (Accessed December 17, 2024)