Micromorphology and uniaxial magnetic anisotropy of oblique-sputtered Ni80Fe20 films on periodically rippled Al2O3 substrates

Ni80Fe20 (NiFe) films were deposited on periodically rippled Al2O3 substrates by two different template oblique angle deposition (OAD) processes at various oblique deposition angles α (0° ≤ α ≤ 60°). The disparate in-plane uniaxial magnetic anisotropy (UMA) caused by the two template deposition processes of films was revealed by magneto-optical Kerr effect (MOKE) loops and ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) measurements. The analysis of Transmission electron microscopy images indicated that this was related to the different micromorphology of the films due to the two template deposition processes. The angle between substrates’ ripple direction and the material flow incident direction would strongly influence the micromorphology and the induced in-plane UMA field of films. The values of the UMA field of these films can be much larger than those of the films oblique deposited on the plane Al2O3 substrates at the same α by choosing the template deposition direction. The results would help further modulate the UMA of magnetic films deposited on rippled substrates, which would be beneficial for the applications of these films in spintronic, magnetic memory and magnetic microwave devices.