Random Magnetic Anisotropy Studies in SmCo5 Thin Films

SmCo5 thin films with different thicknesses were prepared by electron beam evaporation on Kapton substrates. The out-of-plane hysteresis loops for different thicknesses reveal a maximum coercive field when the thickness is 15 nm. Using random magnetic anisotropy model, the thickness dependence of magnetic properties was studied in SmCo5 nanocrystalline films and several fundamental magnetic parameters were extracted. We have determined the local magnetic anisotropy constant K 1 which is found to increase with increasing film thickness except for t = 7 nm which is thought to arise from the structural imperfection of the SmCo5 films.