  The broadband microstrip ferromagnetic resonance technique has been applied
for detection and characterization of a magnetic inhomogeneity in a film
sample. In the case of a 100nm thick Permalloy film an additional magnetically
depleted top sub-layer, practically unidentifiable by the conventional
ferromagnetic resonance setup, has been detected and characterized. These
results have been confirmed by Brillouin light scattering spectroscopy
revealing the fact that the optical properties of the additional sub-layer do
not differ much from those of the bulk of the film. Subsequent characterization
of a large number of other presumably single-layer films with thicknesses in
the range 30-100nm using the same ferromagnetic resonance technique also
revealed the same effect.
