Oblique sputtering of amorphous TbFeCo thin films on glass substrates and the effect of deposition angle on perpendicular magnetic anisotropy

We measured the magnetic hysteresis loops for several obliquely deposited amorphous TbFeCo films. The experimental results show that the direction of the average magnetic anisotropy (i.e., the easy axis of magnetization) is no longer along the surface normal. With the help of computer simulations, we have quantified the effects of oblique deposition in terms of the deviations of local anisotropy directions from the surface normal. We also found that, with the increasing of the deposition angle, the compensation point shifts toward the Fe-rich side and the films become thinner. (C) 1997 American Institute of Physics.