Abstract. Periodically grooved, micron-scale structures incorporating perpendicularly magnetized Gd₁₀Tb₆Fe₈₀Co₄ magneto-optical films have been fabricated and characterized. Such structures produce a magnetic field having flat equipotentials and whose magnitude decays exponentially with distance above the surface, making them attractive for manipulating ultracold atoms in atom optics. The GdTbFeCo films have been deposited on a Cr underlayer on a silicon (100) wafer and on a grooved silicon microstructure using DC magnetron sputtering. The films are found to have excellent magnetic properties for magnetic atom optics applications, including high remanent magnetization, high coercivity and excellent homogeneity.

Print publication: Issue 22 (21 November 2005)
Received 15 March 2005, in final form 26 August 2005
Published 7 November 2005