INVESTIGATION OF CONICR THIN-FILMS DEPOSITED ON [100] AND [110] CR SINGLE-CRYSTALS

Co62.5Ni30Cr7.5 thin films were sputtered onto [100] and [110] Cr single crystals as well as polycrystalline Cr-TEM foils. VSM measurements have revealed the existence of an anisotropy in the in-plane coercivity. This stems from the development of a crystallographic texture in the plane of the film. TEM investigations have found the presence of crystallographic variants in the direction of the hcp c-axis in the CoNiCr films deposited on (100) and (110) Cr surfaces. Lorentz microscopy studies have found relatively straight domain walls which lie parallel to the specific crystallographic directions. The direction of magnetization within each domain is along the c-axis.