Magnetization of (100)NiFe films deposited on (100)Pd/Cu/Si(100)

Abstract

(100) oriented NiFe films have been deposited on (100)Si using the (100)Pd/Cu seed layers. Three Ni/Fe compositions are compared, 80/20, 50/50, and 20/80, all show the (100) orientation. The observed lattice spacings indicate an face-centered cubic structure for the 80/20 alloy, and a body-centered cubic one for the 50/50 and 20/80 alloys. When the magnetization of the NiFe alloys is compared with that obtained from pure Ni and Fe using the additivity rule, an increasing deviation is seen with increasing Fe concentration in the alloys. In-plane magnetization along different crystalline edges shows the same magnetocrystalline anisotropy for the alloys as those of Ni and Fe. This is due to the epitaxial relation between Ni and Fe, with Ni[011]∥Fe[010], the two edges with higher magnetization than those of Ni[010] and Fe[011], respectively.