Controlling In‐Plane Magnetic Anisotropy of Co Films on MgO Substrates using Glancing Angle Deposition

Abstract

The ability to control the in‐plane magnetic anisotropy of a thin film is important for magnetic device applications. One way of accomplishing this task is by glancing angle deposition (GLAD). Herein, thin Co layers have been deposited using GLAD magnetron sputtering on MgO(001) and MgO(110) substrates. For Co films on MgO(001), the in‐plane anisotropy direction can be directly controlled via the deposition angle. In contrast, for Co on MgO(110), the anisotropy due to the deposition angle competes with the anisotropy induced by the substrate, while the growth parameters determine which contribution dominates. On the other hand, while on MgO(001) the deposition angle as well as the film thickness affect the strength of the Co in‐plane anisotropy, no influence of these parameters on the magnetic properties is found for films on MgO(110).