MFM and PEEM observation of micrometre-sized magnetic dot arrays fabricated by ion-microbeam irradiation in FeRh thin films

FeRh thin films were irradiated with a 10 MeV iodine ion microbeam to produce micrometre‐scale ferromagnetic microstructures by modifying the local magnetic character from antiferromagnetism to ferromagnetism using ion‐microbeam irradiation. Two‐dimensional magnetic dot arrays of dimensions ∼2 µm × 4 µm as well as 10 µm × 10 µm were successfully produced on the FeRh surface, which was confirmed by magnetic force microscopy (MFM). The results of photoemission electron microscopy (PEEM) combined with X‐ray magnetic circular dichroism reveal that the easy axis of the magnetization of the ion‐beam‐irradiated ferromagnetism in the FeRh thin films lies in the film planes along the 〈001〉 direction of the MgO substrates.