Thickness dependence of X-ray absorption and photoemission in Fe thin films on Si(0 0 1)

To investigate the initial growth of Fe films on Si(0 0 1) and the Fe/Si interface, Fe films at various thicknesses have been systematically studied by soft X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) and X-ray photoemission spectroscopy (XPS). The Fe L edge XAS spectrum shows a strong thickness dependence with broader line-width for thinner films. Detailed analysis of the Fe absorption signal as a function of the thickness shows that the broad linewidth of Fe L edge XAS spectra is mostly contributed by the first Fe layer at the Fe/Si interface. In contrast to XAS, Fe 2p photoemission spectra for these films are identical. However, valence band photoemission also shows a strong thickness dependence. Comparing the valence band photoemission spectra of the thin Fe/Si(0 0 1) films with that of pure Si and the thickest Fe film, the difference spectra at all thicknesses show almost identical shape indicating the same origin: the Fe/Si interface. Thus, it is mainly the first Fe layer at Fe/Si layer that is reactive with the Si substrate changing its electronic structure.     

Excellent soft magnetic properties realized in FeCoN thin films

FeCoN soft magnetic thin films are prepared by using the reactive direct-current magnetron sputtering technique.It is found that the addition of N2 can reduce the coercivity of the FeCoN film,and excellent soft magnetic properties can be obtained when the ratio of N2 flow to total gas flow is 10%.The influences of texture,grain size,and stress on the magnetic properties and the high-frequency behaviors of the films are also discussed.     

Flexible tuning microwave permeability spectrum in [ferromagnet/antiferromagnet]_n exchange-biased multilayer stack structure

NiFe/[IrMn/NiFe/IrMn] 5 /[NiFe/IrMn] 4 /NiFe structured exchange-biased multilayer films are designed and prepared by magnetron sputtering. The static and the microwave magnetic properties are systematically investigated. The results reveal that adding a partially pinned ferromagnetic layer can effectively broaden the ferromagnetic resonance linewidth toward the low frequency domain. Moreover, a wideband multi-peak permeability spectrum with a 3.1-GHz linewidth is obtained by overlapping the spectra of different partially pinned ferromagnetic layers and [antiferromagnet/ferromagnet/antiferromagnet] n stacks. Our results show that the linewidth of the sample can be feasibly tuned through controlling the proper exchange bias fields of different stacks. The designed multilayered thin films have potential application for a tunable wideband high frequency noise filter.     

Excellent soft magnetic properties realized in FeCoN thin films

FeCoN soft magnetic thin films are prepared by using the reactive direct-current magnetron sputtering technique. It is found that the addition of N₂ can reduce the coercivity of the FeCoN film, and excellent soft magnetic properties can be obtained when the ratio of N₂ flow to total gas flow is 10%. The influences of texture, grain size, and stress on the magnetic properties and the high-frequency behaviors of the films are also discussed.     

Co-based nanogranular thin films on flexible substrate for gigahertz applications

The Co-based granular thin films were deposited on the flexible substrate (Kapton) by magnetron sputtering. The films comprise of Co nanocrystallites and small amount of amorphous (Al,O)-rich inter-granular phase and have the electric resistivities in the range 50–120 μΩ cm, depending on the composition and thickness. The as-deposited films with thickness <80 nm have low coercivity (<20 Oe along hard direction), high permeability (up to 500) and resonance frequency up to 2.5 GHz. Compared to the rigid films, the flexible films have relatively higher coercivity and lower resonance frequency. A comparison between Co-based granular films and FeTaN continuous films has also been discussed.     

A contribution from the magnetoelastic effect to measured microwave permeability of thin ferromagnetic films

Microwave magnetic performance of thin ferromagnetic films is of interest in view of many technical problems. For measuring the microwave permeability, a shorted stripline technique is in common use. Recently, a coaxial technique has been developed for permeability measurements of films deposited onto a flexible substrate. The coaxial technique is reported to be advantageous over the conventional stripline method in wideband operating range and accuracy. In this paper, measurement results are presented which are obtained with these two techniques for Fe–N films. It is found that the magnetoelastic effect contributes greatly to the measured microwave permeability of the films. With the coaxial measurements under an external magnetic bias, this effect may be accounted for to estimate the permeability of a plane film sample. Additional information on the properties of the film can also be extracted from these data, such as estimations of average magnetic anisotropy field and of the magnetostriction constant of the film.     

Thickness dependence of microwave magnetic properties in electrodeposited Fe-Co soft magnetic films with in-plane anisotropy

In this work, the thickness effect of Fe₅₂Co₄₈ soft magnetic films with in-plane anisotropy on static and microwave magnetic properties was investigated. The hysteresis loop results indicated that the static in-plane uniaxial anisotropy field increased from almost 0-60 Oe with increasing film thickness from 100 to 540 nm and well-defined in-plane uniaxial magnetic anisotropy can be obtained as the thickness reached 540 nm or larger. Based on Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert (LLG) equation, the microwave complex permeability spectra were analyzed and well fitted. The LLG curve-fitting results indicated that the initial permeability increased from 106 to 142 and the resonant frequency was shifted from 4.95 to 4.29 GHz as the film thickness was varied from 540 to 1500 nm. Moreover, it was found that there was a discrepancy between the static and the dynamically determined anisotropy field, which can be explained by introducing an additional effective isotropic ripple field. The decreased ripple field was suggested to result in a significant decrease of damping coefficient from 0.109 to 0.038.     

应力各向异性对铁磁/反铁磁双层薄膜磁性质的影响

 采用铁磁共振方法，研究了交换各向异性和应力各向异性对铁磁/反铁磁双层薄膜性质的影响。结果表明：界面交换作用导致单向各向异性，应力各向异性对材料的磁化难易程度有较大影响。在外磁场方向接近应力场方向时，共振频率向高值方向移动，其它区域共振频率则向低值方向移动。对频率线宽而言，接近应力场方向，频率线宽加宽，其它区域频率线宽则变窄。此外，当磁场变化时，应力的存在使得共振频率向低值方向移动，尤其在β＝π方向情况较为复杂，在弱场范围出现了两个区域：即在某磁场范围内，共振频率向高值方向移动，且频率线宽加宽；而其它范围的共振频率（线宽）是向高值方向移动（加宽）还是向低值方向移动（变窄），取决于外磁场的相对强弱。     

Magnetization reversal observed by the deflection of magnetic actuator

A magnetic actuator consisting of a silicon oxide microcantilever and a silicon oxide plate deposited on ferromagnetic multilayer thin films is fabricated using electron beam lithography and electron beam evaporation, and placed in various magnetic fields to observe its flexure. The magnetic actuator is bent by magnetic torque produced by ferromagnetic multilayer thin films under an external magnetic field owing to the fabrication of a highly sensitive microcantilever and the design of elliptic ferromagnetic thin films with high magnetic shape anisotropy. The magnetic actuator is placed in four kinds of magnetic field directions to investigate the diversity of deflections; the angles between the easy axis of the ferromagnetic multilayer thin films and the direction of the external magnetic field are 90°, 70°, 45° and 20°.     

Low-field microwave absorption in pulse laser deposited FeSi thin film

Low field microwave absorption (LFMA) measurements at 9.4 GHz (X-band), were carried out on pulse laser deposited (PLD) polycrystalline B20 cubic structure FeSi thin film grown on Si (111) substrate. The LFMA properties of the films were investigated as a function of DC field, temperature, microwave power and the orientation of DC field with respect to the film surface. The LFMA signal is very strong when the DC field is parallel to the film surface and vanishes at higher angles. The LFMA signal strength increases as the microwave power is increased. The LFMA signal disappears around 340 K, which can be attributed to the disappearance of ferromagnetic state well above room temperature in these films. We believe that domain structure evolution in low fields, which in turn modifies the low field permeability as well as the anisotropy, could be the origin of the LFMA observed in these films. The observation of LFMA opens the possibility of the FeSi films to be used as low magnetic field sensors in the microwave and rf frequency regions.     

Micromagnetic simulation of the magnetic dispersion angle and effective damping factor for the single-phase soft magnetic films

The micromagnetic structure of the single-phase soft magnetic films was simulated using the model of two-dimensional hexagonal lattices by micromagnetic method. The typical micromagnetic ripple structure of magnetic films was obtained. Thus, the magnetic dispersion angle was calculated from the static magnetic structure of the film. Furthermore, the relationship between the magnetic dispersion angles and the corresponding magnetic parameters of the film was discussed. The technique also demonstrated the microwave permeability of the films and the magnetic spectra well fitted by the permeability equation, which was deduced from the Landau–Lifshitz–Gilbert (LLG) function when the film was considered as a single domain. The fitting data of effective damping factor as a function of the magnetic dispersion angle were investigated.     

Microwave magnetic properties of soft magnetic thin films

We review our works that focus on the microwave magnetic properties of metallic,ferrite and granular thin films.Soft magnetic material with large permeability and low energy loss in the GHz range is a challenge for the inforcom technologies.GHz magnetic properties of the soft magnetic thin films with in-plane anisotropy were investigated.It is found that several hundreds of permeability at the GHz frequency was achieved for Co100-xZrx and Co90Nb10 metallic thin films because of their high saturation magneti...     

非晶态合金薄带与膜的巨磁电阻抗效应理论及计算

通过建立具有平面近横向各向异性场的非晶态合金薄带及膜的磁畴结构模型，利用线性化Maxwell方程组及Landau-Lifshitz方程，推出了在高频交变磁场及外加面内轴向直流磁场H_ex作用下的铁磁材料的与取向相关的磁导率表达式，得到了对方位角平均的相对磁导率及阻抗的计算式，导出了磁导率与张量磁化率分量间的关系，对材料磁导率的实部及虚部随H_ex的变化进行了计算，并给出了对应的磁谱图.建立的磁导率与外磁场的理论关系可将Panina及Kraus给出的理论结果统一起来. 关键词： 非晶态合金薄带及膜 取向相关磁导率 GMI效应理论与计算 近横向各向异性场     

Miniature plasma focus as a novel device for synthesis of soft magnetic FeCo thin films

The Letter reports the first ever application of low energy miniature plasma focus device as a deposition facility for nanostructured thin films. We demonstrate successful utilization of a 120 J fast miniature plasma focus device as a novel facility for the deposition of magnetically soft FeCo thin films. Different gas types and the substrate materials were used to investigate their effects on magnetic properties of the films. The FeCo films deposited on Si₍₁₀₀₎ with hydrogen as the filling gas were found to have an average grain size of 10.8±1.2 nm with narrow size distribution and soft magnetic properties with coercivity of about 6.3 Oe. The experimental coercivity value matched reasonably well with the theoretical calculation done using ripple theory.     

Wellenstruktur der Magnetisierung in dünnen Permalloyschichten

The magnetic ripple of thin uniaxial permalloy films is estimated by the calculus of variations. Two special cases are examined, namely average magnetization and external field in the easy and in the hard direction of the uniaxial anisotropy. When the fluctuations of the magnetization, which are connected with the fluctuations of the anisotropy, are small, the variation problem leads to differential equations which can be integrated. The solutions describe the magnetic ripple in the film. The ripple is a function of the dispersion of the anisotropy directions, the magnetic constants of the film, its thickness, and of the applied field. The agreement between theory and experiment is good.     

Stability of the magnetic domain structure of nanoparticle thin films against external fields

We investigate the effect of external magnetic fields on the magnetic structure of thin films from magnetic nanoparticles (MNP) with dipolar interaction. Such fields are present, for example, if samples are scanned with magnetic probes. Numerical simulations and experimental magnetic force microscopy (MFM) studies are presented. Numerically, we have calculated the magnetization pattern of single-layer and multilayer MNP thin films. The calculations show that unperturbed single-layer MNP films have an in-plane orientation of the magnetization with a flux-closure-domain pattern. An external field generated by a point dipole above the film induces locally an out-of-plane configuration of the magnetization. In the corresponding MFM images, the domain pattern in the film is erased and a stripe-like contrast enhancement at the edges appears. Multilayer films are found to be more robust against external fields than monolayers.     

Theoretical investigation of ferromagnetic resonance in a ferromagnetic thin film with external stress anisotropy

We use the ferromagnetic resonance(FMR)method to study the properties of ferromagnetic thin film,in which external stress anisotropy,fourfold anisotropy and uniaxial anisotropy are considered.The analytical expressions of FMR frequency,linewidth and the imaginary part of magnetic susceptibility are obtained.Our results reveal that the FMR frequency and the imaginary part of magnetic susceptibility are distinctly enhanced,and the frequency linewidth or field linewidth are broadened due to a strong external stress anisotropy field.The hard-axis and easy-axis components of magnetization can be tuned significantly by controlling the intensity and direction of stress and the in-plane uniaxial anisotropy field.     

Tunable resonance frequency of FeNi films by oblique sputtering

FeNi thin films were fabricated by radio frequency magnetron sputtering on Si(1 1 1). Dynamic properties at remanence of the films were systematically investigated in a wide frequency range from 100 MHz to 5 GHz. The results show that both thickness of FeNi films and oblique angle have important effects on the magnetic properties of the films, the magnetic resonant frequency of the films can also be adjusted by the two factors. The in-plane uniaxial magnetic anisotropy field can be adjusted from 82 Oe to 220 Oe by increasing the oblique angle. As a consequence, the magnetic resonant frequency of the films increased from 2.7 GHz to 4.2 GHz.     

Spin dynamics at low microwave frequencies in crystalline Fe ultrathin film double layers using co-planar transmission lines

Magnetic damping has been studied in magnetic double layers using a network analyzer (NA) with a coplanar transmission line. The magnetic films consisted of ultrathin crystalline films of Fe separated by an Au spacer. The films were deposited on GaAs(0 0 1) substrates using the molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) technique. NA-ferromagnetic resonance (NA-FMR) measurements were carried out along the magnetic hard axis, allowing one to follow the frequency FMR linewidth down to the 1 GHz range of frequencies. It will be shown that the FMR linewidth in the NA-FMR measurements is not entirely described by Gilbert damping. The additional contribution in the frequency linewidth increases with decreasing frequency, and is most likely caused by dipolar fields associated with an inhomogeneous RF field around the coplanar transmission line.     

Double resonance experiments in57Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy

Splitting of Mössbauer lines has been observed in conventional energy domain spectra of Permalloy samples when an external radio frequency (rf) magnetic field was tuned to be in resonance with the separation of Zeeman sublevels of either the ground or the excited state of the⁵⁷Fe nucleus. Time domain measurements were performed with the frequency of the rf field close to the natural linewidth of the 14.4 keV Mössbauer state. A nonmagnetostrictive magnetically soft Permalloy sample was used in the experiments.