In-plane magnetic anisotropies in polycrystalline Ni films induced by Xe bombardment during growth

250 to 1500 AA thin Ni films were ion beam sputtered onto a fused quartz substrate with simultaneous bombardment by Xe ions of 100 eV. Hysteresis loops were recorded ex situ by the longitudinal magnetooptic Kerr effect. A maximum in-plane uniaxial anisotropy field of 12 kA/m (151 Oe) was found in 750-AA-thick films that were deposited with a flux ratio of Xe ions to Ni atoms of 0.12. The easy axis of magnetization was found to lie perpendicular to the plane of incidence of the secondary ions. Films showing the strong uniaxial in-plane anisotropy were almost completely