Effective Triaxial Anisotropy in Triple-Layered Thin Magnetic Films

The properties of exchange-coupled composite films composed of three layers of uniaxial anisotropic ferromagnetics have been investigated. Triple-layered films of a Ni-Fe-Co (67–15–18 wt. %) alloy exhibiting predominant triaxial anisotropy have been prepared. Their magnetization characteristics have been measured both with a display device for critical magnetization curves and a torque magnetometer. Both measurements have shown the existence of an effective triaxial anisotropy expected from a previously developed theory which represents the deformation of the critical magnetization curves of multilayered thin films in terms of effective multiaxial anisotropies.