MAGNETIZATION, MAGNETOSTRICTION AND INTRINSIC STRESS OF POLYCRYSTALLINE FE FILMS MEASURED BY A UHV CANTILEVER BEAM TECHNIQUE

The magnetization, magnetostriction and intrinsic stress of various polycrystalline Fe films have been investigated with an extended version of a UHV cantilever beam technique. Due to the high sensitivity of this technique absolute values of the respective properties can be determined of films approaching even monolayer thickness. The saturation magnetization of Fe/glass is equal to the respective bulk value down to film thicknesses of 3 nm, where the films percolate; on mica and oxidized Si a decrease by about 30% is observed at mean film thicknesses lower than 10 nm, probably due to intermixing effects at the interface. On all three substrates a strong dependence of the saturation magnetostriction on film thickness is observed at mean film thicknesses lower than 10-20 nm.