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Micromachined Silicon Torsional Resonator for Magnetic Anisotropy Measurement
Published
Author(s)
J. Morillo, Q. Su, B. Panchapakesan, Matthias Wuttig, Donald B. Novotny
Abstract
A novel method for measuring the out-of-plane magnetic anisotropy of thin films has been developed using the existing techniques of silicon micromachining. The torsion pendulum which is commonly used to measure the perpendicular magnetic anisotropy energy constant, Ku, is modified into a single crystal silicon high Q torsional resonator. This article describes the principle of a silicon torsional resonator, the experimental procedure for measuring magnetic anisotropy and results. The theoretical values of Ku for Terfenol-D and Metglas[copyright] thin films were compared to the experimentally determined values and found to be within the error limits which for Metglas[copyright] is better than 1%. The agreement is worse, 5% to 15% for amorphous stressed Terfenol-D, as its magnetoelastic energy is less accurately known. The results indicate that there is no conceptual limits of accuracy for measuring the magnetic anisotropy using the new method.
Citation
Review of Scientific Instruments
Volume
69
Issue
11
Pub Type
Journals
Keywords
magnetic anisotropy, magnetic properties, microwave, thin films, Terfenol-D, tortional resonator
Citation
Morillo, J.
, Su, Q.
, Panchapakesan, B.
, Wuttig, M.
and Novotny, D.
(1998),
Micromachined Silicon Torsional Resonator for Magnetic Anisotropy Measurement, Review of Scientific Instruments
(Accessed October 11, 2025)