Anisotropy of thin ferromagnetic films

A model is proposed and checked experimentally to describe a direct relationship between the anisotropy of thin ferromagnetic films and the texture of a low-symmetry magnetically ordered phase of CoFe alloy which has a monoclinic unit cell. The measured distortions of the initial cubic cell are an order of magnitude greater than the magnetostriction constants of the solid sample. An analysis is made of a system for the formation of anisotropic stresses in the plane of the film in which this effect is attributed to the magnetic texture. A suitable method is developed for making diffraction measurements and analyzing the experimental data. (C) 1998 American Institute of Physics.