Uniaxial magnetic anisotropy of cobalt thin films on different substrates using CW-MOKE technique

Cobalt thin films were deposited on GaAs, Si and Glass substrates by RF-magnetron sputtering. The structure was studied using atomic force microscopy, X-ray reflectivity and grazing incidence X-ray diffraction. Magnetic properties were determined with the magneto-optic Kerr effect. The deposited films have in-plane uniaxial anisotropy and after annealing the anisotropy reduces. The reduction in anisotropy may be due to release of stress and the remaining anisotropy after annealing may be due to shape anisotropy of the particulates. - Highlights: • Deposited cobalt thin films on different substrates and annealed at 300 °C. • Characterized as-grown and annealed films by GIXRD, AFM and MOKE. • Uniaxial magnetic anisotropy observed for all the samples. • Decrease in anisotropy on annealing may be due to release of stress during deposition