A novel method of easy-axis orientation (EAO) mapping for thin magnetic films is described. The method employs a magnetooptic Kerr sensor to detect the discrete switches in film magnetization direction that occur when a rotating magnetic field mod H mod >H/sub k/ is applied to a magnetically anisotropic thin film. An instrument implementing this method has been constructed and is capable of generating easy-axis maps at a rate of 3 locations/s with 1 degrees accuracy. Experimental measurements show that the EAO determination is only slightly sensitive to stray fields, such as the Earth's field. The optical properties of thin layers covering the magnetic film have been observed to lead to distortions in the Kerr signal, although these distortions do not affect the accuracy of the EAO measurements.
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机译：描述了一种新颖的磁薄膜易轴取向（EAO）映射方法。该方法采用磁光Kerr传感器来检测膜磁化方向上的离散开关，该离散开关是在将旋转磁场mod H mod> H / sub k /施加到磁各向异性薄膜时发生的。已经构造了一种实现该方法的仪器，该仪器能够以3个位置/秒的速率生成具有1度精度的易轴图。实验测量表明，EAO的确定仅对杂散场（例如地球场）稍微敏感。已经观察到覆盖磁性膜的薄层的光学特性会导致Kerr信号失真，尽管这些失真不会影响EAO测量的准确性。
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