In situ determination of the anisotropy field in ferromagnetic films using magnetic susceptibility measurements by MOKE

Abstract An alternate method of measuring anisotropy fields in thin film ferromagnets is demonstrated. The method relies on the magnetic susceptibility in a small a.c. magnetic field, measured in situ using the magneto-optic Kerr effect (MOKE), and will be useful in situations where more specialized apparatus are not conveniently available, or constraints discourage the use of a large, static magnetic field. The method is demonstrated for Co/W(1 1 0) films, where it yields anisotropy fields in agreement with previous studies using more conventional torque magnetometry. The sensitivity of the method is demonstrated using CoO/Co/W(1 1 0) bilayer films, where the anisotropy due to interfacial exchange coupling is detected and used to find the Neel temperature of the thin CoO layer.