Magnetic properties of FeSiB thin films displaying stripe domains

FeSiB amorphous thin films with thicknesses from 25 to 600 nm have been produced by rf sputtering on Si(3)N(4) substrates. A spin reorientation transition has been observed on the as-prepared samples, as a function of thickness and temperature. Spin reorientation transition is shown to depend on the thermal treatments to which the as-prepared samples have been submitted. Static hysteresis loops obtained as a function of temperature, and magnetic force microscopy images taken at room temperature at the remanence and as a function of an applied magnetic field, have been employed to study the magnetic domain configuration of all the samples, and to see how it is affected by sample thickness, measurement temperature and annealing conditions. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.