Magnetic properties and structure of very thin permalloy films

In order to study the magnetic properties and structure of very thin permalloy films, Ni;Fe;films of 12nm in thicknesswere prepared by different instruments at an ultrahigh base vacuum and a lower base vacuum. The anisotropic magnetoresistance co-efficients （ΔR/R） of Ni;Fe;（12nm） films reached 1.6% and 0.6%, and the coercivities were 127 and 334 A/m, respectively. X-rayphotoelectron spectroscopy （XPS） and X-ray diffraction （XRD） were used to study the structure and surface chemical state. The ex-perimental results show that the films prepared at the ultrahigh base vacuum have a smoother surface, a bigger grain size and adenser structure with fewer defects than those prepared at the lower base vacuum.