Published online by Cambridge University Press: 21 February 2011
The real long term aging phenomena at ambient temperatures, over 8 years, of amorphous TbFe thin films protected with a SiOx layer has been investigated, using Kerr magneto-optic effect. Our data indicate significant changes in the coercivity values for films with less than 500A thickness. In thicker films structure/stress relaxation effects appear to be significant. Studies of the stability of these films under accelerated aging are also presented.