Achieving in-plane biaxial magnetic anisotropy of permalloy films by localized magnetoelastic coupling

Abstract Magnetic films with in-plane magnetic anisotropy have been extensively applied in the field of magnetoelectronic devices. Here, we report a control method for the in-plane magnetic anisotropy of Ni 80 Fe 20 films by localized magnetoelastic coupling. Nanotrenches are patterned on Ni 80 Fe 20 /polymethyl methacrylate bilayers, and the Young’s modulus mismatch between micro-patterned magnetic/polymer layers directionally releases the local stress. Due to magnetoelastic coupling, the directed tension distribution can rearrange the stripe domain along the patterned nanotrenches and induce the in-plane uniaxial magnetic anisotropy of the Ni 80 Fe 20 films. Using hierarchically patterned tension distributions with 2D nanotrench arrays, in-plane biaxial magnetic anisotropy can be arbitrarily designable in Ni 80 Fe 20 films.