Magnetic texturing of xenon-ion irradiated nickel films

Thin polycrystalline Ni films of typically 75 nm thickness evaporated on Si or SiO2 substrates were irradiated with 30–900 keV Xe-ions to fluences of $2.5\times10^{13} {-} 4\times10^{14}$/cm2. The magnetization of the Ni films was measured using the longitudinal Magneto-Optical Kerr Effect and Vibrating Sample Magnetometry. The Ni-film thickness and Xe-concentration profiles were determined with Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy and the lattice dilation with X-ray diffraction. The Xe-irradiations were found to induce an in-plane uniaxial magnetic anisotropy within the Ni-films. This magnetic texture was investigated in relationship to the microstructure as function of the ion energy and fluence, the sample temperature, the presence of an external magnetic field during the irradiation and the stress field produced before, during and after the implantations