Thin Film Edge Property Measurements by Edge Saturation

Abstract

Two vector magnetometry techniques are described for characterizing the magnetic properties of the edges in long, straight magnetic stripes. The critical transverse field at which the edge magnetization saturates is determined by measuring hysteresis loops as a function of angle. The angular dispersion in the stripe edge direction is estimated from the remanence by measuring the angular width of the transition from one stability direction to the other. Experimental results are presented for two samples prepared through different lithography processes. These are compared to micromagnetic modeling results for both 90° and tapered edges. Differences between measured and modeled results are likely due to thermal fluctuations and edge defects. © 2006, IEEE. All rights reserved.