THIN-FILMS OF BARIUM FERRITE WITH PERPENDICULAR MAGNETIC-ANISOTROPY PRODUCED BY LASER ABLATION DEPOSITION

Barium ferrite thin films with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy have been prepared on heated (001) sapphire substrates by laser ablation de position in an oxygen atmosphere using a KrF excimer laser. X-ray diff raction patterns reveal highly oriented films of the magnetoplumbite p hase with a c-axis angular spread of 1.8-degrees. Scanning electron mi crographs reveal that these films are polycrystalline with a crystalli te size of 0.4 mum. There is no surface particulate contamination. The saturation magnetization was similar to bulk barium ferrite, and the coercivity was 145 mT. The magneto-optical properties of the films are compared with those derived from the optical and magneto-optical cons tants of the bulk material.