We have used conventional and anomalous dispersion x-ray scattering to
study the near-neighbor atomic environments in sputter-deposited amor
phous Fe-Tb thin films with a large perpendicular magnetic anisotropy.
The as-deposited films show a clear structural anisotropy, with more
Fe-Tb near neighbor pairs in the out-of-plane direction. Upon annealin
g, the magnetic anisotropy drops significantly, and we see a correspon
ding reduction in the structural anisotropy. The number of Fe-Tb near-
neighbors increases in the in-plane direction, but does not change in
the out-of-plane direction. Therefore, the distribution of Fe-Tb near
neighbors becomes more uniform upon annealing. We conclude that the ob
served reduction in perpendicular magnetic anisotropy energy is a resu
lt of this change in structure.