MOKE investigation of silicide films ion-beam synthesized in single-crystal silicon

Magnetic-field-assisted ion-beam synthesis was used to produce thin magnetic films. Si wafers were implanted with 40 keV Fe + ions with a fluence of 3 × 10 17 cm -2 in the external magnetic field of 9.6 × 10 4 A/m. The samples were investigated by scanning magneto-optical Kerr effect magnetometry, inductive magnetometry and reflection high-energy electron diffraction. The main synthesized phase was ferromagnetic Fe 3Si. In some regions of the samples the deviations of the easy magnetic axis near the applied magnetic field were revealed. These local changes can be caused by various reasons: the presence of mechanical stresses in a silicon substrate during the ion bombardment, the appearance of temperature gradients, inhomogeneous sputtering and the appearance of small magnetic fields in the chamber of the accelerator. © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved