Stacking Structures of Multilayered Thin Films

Magnetostatic coupling between layers in multilayer films enables more complex domain structures than are possible in single-layer films. Both high-speed sputtering and vacuum deposition were used to form films in which magnetic (Fe, Ni) and nonmagnetic (Si, SiO, C) layers alternate. Due to interdiffusion at layer boundaries, sputtered Fe-Si multilayer films metamorphosed into films of alternating layers of ferromagnetic Fe-rich Fe-Si and nonmagnetic Si-rich Si-Fe, which layers are magnetostatically coupled.