Observation of rotatable stripe domain in permalloy films with oblique sputtering

Abstract

Stripe domain (SD) in obliquely sputtered permalloy films were investigated by comparing with normally sputtered ones. The critical thickness for SD formation of obliquely sputtered films was about 100 nm thinner than that of normally sputtered films. The hysteresis loops of obliquely sputtered films showed a peculiar shape. A rotation of SD towards easy axis was observed in the obliquely sputtered films, which was confirmed by permeability spectra under a bias field. The origin of the rotation could result from in-plane uniaxial anisotropy, which is induced by the shape effect of the oblique columnar growth of permalloy grains.