Broad-Band FMR Linewidth of Co_2MnSi Thin Films with Low Damping Factor:The Role of Two-Magnon Scattering

The low Gilbert damping factor,which is usually measured by ferromagnetic resonance,is crucial in spintronic applications.Two-magnon scattering occurs when the orthogonality of the ferromagnetic resonance mode and other degenerate spin wave modes was broken by magnetic anisotropy,voids,second phase,surface defects,etc.,which is important in analysis of ferromagnetic resonance linewidth.Direct fitting to linewidth with Gilbert damping is advisable only when the measured linewidth is a linear function of measuring frequency in a broad band measurement.We observe the nonlinear ferromagnetic resonance linewidth of Co_2MnSi thin films with respect to measuring frequency in broad band measurement.Experimental data could be well fitted with the model including two-magnon scattering with no fixed parameters.The fitting results show that two-magnon scattering results in the nonlinear linewidth behavior,and the Gilbert damping factor is much smaller than reported ones,indicating that our Co_2 MnSi films are more suitable for the applications of spin transfer torque.     

Spin wave dynamics and the determination of intrinsic damping in locally excited Permalloy thin films

Time-resolved scanning Kerr effect microscopy has been used to study magnetization dynamics in Permalloy thin films excited by transient magnetic pulses generated by a micrometer-scale transmission line structure. The results are consistent with magnetostatic spin wave theory and are supported by micromagnetic simulations. Magnetostatic volume and surface spin waves are measured for the same specimen using different bias field orientations and can be accurately calculated by k-space integrations over all excited plane wave components. A single damping constant of Gilbert form is sufficient to describe both scenarios. The nonuniform pulsed field plays a key role in the spin wave dynamics, with its Fourier transform serving as a weighting function for the participating modes. The intrinsic Gilbert damping parameter alpha is most conveniently measured when the spin waves are effectively stationary.     

Enhanced gilbert damping in thin ferromagnetic films

The precession of the magnetization of a ferromagnet is shown to transfer spins into adjacent normal metal layers. This "pumping" of spins slows down the precession corresponding to an enhanced Gilbert damping constant in the Landau-Lifshitz equation. The damping is expressed in terms of the scattering matrix of the ferromagnetic layer, which is accessible to model and first-principles calculations. Our estimates for permalloy thin films explain the trends observed in recent experiments.     

Enhanced dielectric constant resolution of thin insulating films by electrostatic force microscopy

Electrostatic force microscopy has been shown to be a useful tool to determine the dielectric constant of insulating films of nanometer thicknesses that play a key role in many electrical, optical and biological phenomena. Previous approaches have made use of simple analytical formulas to analyze the experimental data for thin insulating films deposited directly on a metallic substrate. Here we show that the sensitivity of the EFM signal to changes in the dielectric constant of the thin film can be enhanced by using dielectric substrates with low dielectric constants. We present detailed numerical calculations of the tip-sample electrostatic interaction in the following setup: an insulating thin film, a dielectric substrate (or spacing layer) of known low dielectric constant and a metallic electrode. The EFM sensitivity to the dielectric constant increases with the thickness of the spacing layer and saturates for thicknesses above 100-300 nm, when it is close to that of an infinite medium.     

Regularities in penetration of electromagnetic waves through metallic magnetic films

Penetration of millimeter electromagnetic waves through permalloy films under magnetic resonance conditions is studied experimentally and theoretically. Measurements are taken on film samples from 40 to 200 nm in thickness in a frequency range from 26 to 38 GHz. Magnetic resonance, antiresonance, and spin-wave resonance are observed. The resonance spectrum is reconstructed. The Gilbert damping constant is determined for a series of films. It is shown that the damping constant decreases upon an increase in the film thickness. The resonance line profile is calculated, and the dependences of resonance line amplitude and width on experimental conditions and material parameters of the film are determined.     

Thickness-dependent magnetic properties in Pt/[Co/Ni]n multilayers with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy

We systematically investigated the Ni and Co thickness-dependent perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) coefficient, magnetic domain structures, and magnetization dynamics of Pt(5 nm)/[Co($t_{\rm Co}$)/Ni($t_{\rm Ni}$)]$_{5}$/Pt(1 nm) multilayers by combining the four standard magnetic characterization techniques. The magnetic-related hysteresis loops obtained from the field-dependent magnetization $M$ and anomalous Hall resistivity (AHR) $\rho_{{xy}}$ showed that the two serial multilayers with $t_{\rm Co} = 0.2$ nm and 0.3 nm have the optimum PMA coefficient $K_{\rm U}$ as well as the highest coercivity $H_{\rm C}$ at the Ni thickness $t_{\rm Ni}= 0.6 $ nm. Additionally, the magnetic domain structures obtained by magneto-optic Kerr effect (MOKE) microscopy also significantly depend on the thickness and $K_{\rm U}$ of the films. Furthermore, the thickness-dependent linewidth of ferromagnetic resonance is inversely proportional to $K_{\rm U}$ and $H_{\rm C}$, indicating that inhomogeneous magnetic properties dominate the linewidth. However, the intrinsic Gilbert damping constant determined by a linear fitting of the frequency-dependent linewidth does not depend on the Ni thickness and $K_{\rm U}$. Our results could help promote the PMA [Co/Ni] multilayer applications in various spintronic and spin-orbitronic devices.     

Micromagnetic simulation of ferromagnetic resonance of perpendicular granular media: Influence of the intergranular exchange on the Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert damping constant

A micromagnetic approach was used to simulate ferromagnetic resonance frequency (FMR) profiles of perpendicular granular CoCrPt-oxide thin films. From the obtained FMR line-width we computed the effective damping constant. The influence of the intergranular exchange on the effective damping was investigated, showing an increase in the damping constant with increase in intergranular exchange coupling. Moreover, the effective damping constant increases with decrease in mesh size of the model, and eventually saturates for mesh sizes of about 1 nm. These dependencies are explained in terms of different modes that can be excited in the granular medium due to interactions between the individual spins.     

Thickness dependent magnetization dynamics of perpendicular anisotropy Co/Pd multilayer films

We present the measurements of the picosecond magnetization dynamics of Co/Pd multilayer films. The dynamic magnetization properties of sputtered multilayer films were analyzed as a function of Co layer thicknesses and applied bias field. Both the eigenfrequencies of the magnetization precession in the multilayers and the associated Gilbert damping exhibit extreme sensitivity to the magnetic layer thickness on an atomic monolayer scale. The eigenfrequency increases more than threefold when the Co thickness decreases from 7.5 to 2.8 Å, mainly due to the changes in effective saturation magnetization and perpendicular anisotropy constant. A concomitant 2.6-fold increase in the damping of the oscillations is observed and attributed to stronger interface dissipation in thinner Co layers. In addition, we introduce a quasi-1D micromagnetic model in which the multilayer stack is described as a one-dimensional chain of macrospins that represent each Co layer. This model yields excellent agreement with the observed resonance frequencies without any free parameters, while being much simpler and faster than full 3D micromagnetic modeling.     

Anomalous Hall effect in perpendicular CoFeB thin films

Our recent research achievements in the perpendicular magnetic anisotropy （PMA） properties of the CoFeB sand- wiched by MgO and tantalum layers are summarized. We found that the PMA behaviors of Ta/CoFeB/MgO and MgO/CoFeB/Ta thin films are different. The larger PMA in the latter film is related to the lower magnetization of CoFeB deposited on MgO. Furthermore, we have demonstrated a large anomalous Hall effect in perpendicular CoFeB thin fihn. Our results show large anomalous Hall resistivity, large longitudinal resistivity, and low switching field can be achieved, all at the same time, in the perpendicular CoFeB thin film. Anomalous Hall effect with high and linear sensitivity is also found in an MgO/CoFeBFFa thin film with a thick MgO layer, which opens a door tbr future device applications of perpendicular ferromagnetic thin films.     

Investigation of ferromagnetic resonance and damping properties of CoFeB

In this study, the influences of thin film thickness and post-annealing process on the magnetic properties of CoFeB thin films were investigated. The angular dependency and linewidth of the ferromagnetic resonance signal were used to explore the magnetic behavior of sputtered single-layer and trilayer thin film stacks of CoFeB. A micromagnetic simulation model was employed based on the metropolis algorithm comprising the demagnetizing field and in-plane induced uniaxial anisotropy terms with all relevant contributions. Our results reveal that the direction of magnetization changes from in-plane to out-of-plane as a result of the annealing process and induces a perpendicular magnetic anisotropy in the 1-nm thick CoFeB thin film. The ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) linewidth can be defined well by the intrinsic Gilbert damping effect and the magnetic inhomogeneity contribution in both as-grown and annealed samples. The difference between the linewidths of the single and trilayer film is mainly caused by the spin pumping effect on damping which is associated with the interface layers.     

Study on the Gilbert damping of polycrystalline YIG films with different capping layers

This paper describes the effect of 5-nm thick platinum (Pt), aluminum (Al) and silicon oxide (SiO_x) capping layers on the static and dynamic magnetic properties of 400-nm thick polycrystalline YIG films deposited on a Pt buffer layer. Both static and dynamic magnetic properties of Pt capped YIG film are totally different among all YIG films. Namely, the squareness of the magnetization curve for Pt capped YIG film increases, indicating that Pt capped YIG film is magnetically softer than other YIG films. Interestingly, the effective Gilbert damping parameter of Pt capped YIG films is about four times as large as those of other YIG films, and its value is approximately 9.52 × 10⁻⁴. However, the value of Gilbert damping is 2.55 × 10⁻⁴, 3.46 × 10⁻⁴ and 3.85 × 10⁻⁴ respectively for no capping, SiOx capping and Al capping samples respectively. This huge change in Gilbert damping parameter is mainly originating from the spin pumping effect, which arises at the interface of a material having strong spin orbit interaction such as Pt. Moreover, the enourmous increase in the value of effective anisotropic field and decrese in effective saturation magnetization indicates interface anisotropy is induced in Pt capped sample. These results suggest that the static and dynamic magnetic properties of YIG film can be controlled by selecting an appropriate capping layer.     

Finite temperature dynamics of vortices in the two dimensional anisotropic Heisenberg model

We study the effects of finite temperature on the dynamics of non-planar vortices in the classical, two-dimensional anisotropic Heisenberg model with XY- or easy-plane symmetry. To this end, we analyze a generalized Landau-Lifshitz equation including additive white noise and Gilbert damping. Using a collective variable theory with no adjustable parameters we derive an equation of motion for the vortices with stochastic forces which are shown to represent white noise with an effective diffusion constant linearly dependent on temperature. We solve these stochastic equations of motion by means of a Green's function formalism and obtain the mean vortex trajectory and its variance. We find a non-standard time dependence for the variance of the components perpendicular to the driving force. We compare the analytical results with Langevin dynamics simulations and find a good agreement up to temperatures of the order of 25% of the Kosterlitz-Thouless transition temperature. Finally, we discuss the reasons why our approach is not appropriate for higher temperatures as well as the discreteness effects observed in the numerical simulations. Received: 27 April 1998 / Revised: 2 September 1998 / Accepted: 10 September 1998     

Well-designed rectangular cavity resonator for FMR experiment

The unloaded quality factor of the cavity resonator is the ratio between the stored energy of the cavity resonator to the power loses in the cavity resonator. The homemade rectangular cavity resonator in X-band shows higher unloaded quality factor compare with standard cavity resonator in the TE₁₀₂ mode. Because the inner walls of rectangular cavity resonator are treated through high quality polishing and high purity Au plating. Also the inner walls are made by printed circuit board which has thin Cu foil, two problems such as mechanical vibration and thermal expansion can be solved by minimizing unwanted eddy current. Through the ferromagnetic resonance measurement by using our rectangular cavity resonator, we can be obtained reasonable values of resonance frequency and linewidth by using NiFe thin film. As a result, the Gilbert damping constant from the experimental result is in good agreement with the typical value of damping parameter of the NiFe thin film.     

Dynamics of Skyrmion crystals in metallic thin films

We study the collective dynamics of the Skyrmion crystal in thin films of ferromagnetic metals resulting from the nontrivial Skyrmion topology. It is shown that the current-driven motion of the crystal reduces the topological Hall effect and the Skyrmion trajectories bend away from the direction of the electric current (the Skyrmion Hall effect). We find a new dissipation mechanism in noncollinear spin textures that can lead to a much faster spin relaxation than Gilbert damping, calculate the dispersion of phonons in the Skyrmion crystal, and discuss the effects of impurity pinning of Skyrmions.     

Microscopic spin-wave theory for yttrium-iron garnet films

Motivated by recent experiments on thin films of the ferromagnetic insulator yttrium-iron garnet (YIG), we have developed an efficient microscopic approach to calculate the spin-wave spectra of these systems. We model the experimentally relevant magnon band of YIG using an effective quantum Heisenberg model on a cubic lattice with ferromagnetic nearest neighbour exchange and long-range dipole-dipole interactions. After a bosonization of the spin degrees of freedom via a Holstein-Primakoff transformation and a truncation at quadratic order in the bosons, we obtain the spin-wave spectra for experimentally relevant parameters without further approximation by numerical diagonalization, using efficient Ewald summation techniques to carry out the dipolar sums. We compare our numerical results with two different analytic approximations and with predictions based on the phenomenological Landau-Lifshitz equation.     

垂直磁各向异性L10-Mn1.67Ga超薄膜分子束外延生长与磁性研究

具有超强垂直磁各向异性的L1₀-Mn_xGa薄膜由于其与半导体材料结构及工艺的高度兼容性而受到广泛关注, 其超高垂直磁各向异性能和极低的磁阻尼因子预示着L1₀-Mn_xGa薄膜在高热稳定性自旋电子学器件中将发挥重要作用. 而L1₀-Mn_xGa超薄膜对于降低L1₀-Mn_xGa基垂直磁各向异性隧道结中的磁矩翻转临界电流密度有着重要的意义. 本文采用分子束外延的方法, 在半导体GaAs衬底上成功制备出了一系列不同厚度的L1₀-Mn_1.67Ga薄膜, 厚度范围为1-5 nm. 生长过程中反射式高能电子衍射原位检测以及X射线衍射结果均表明了其良好的单晶相. 磁性测量结果表明, 厚度在1 nm以上的L1₀-Mn_1.67Ga薄膜均可以保持垂直磁各向异性特征, 厚度为5 nm的L1₀-Mn_1.67Ga薄膜的垂直磁各向异性能可达到14.7 Merg/cm³. 这些结果为基于L1₀-Mn_1.67Ga的垂直磁各向异性隧道结在自旋转移扭矩驱动的磁随机存储器等低功耗器件的集成及应用提供了重要的实验支持.     

Spin dynamics in a superconductor-ferromagnet proximity system

The ferromagnetic resonance of thin sputtered Ni80Fe20 films grown on Nb is measured. By varying the temperature and the thickness of the Nb the role of the superconductivity on the whole ferromagnetic layer in these heterostructures is explored. The change in the spin transport properties below the superconducting transition of the Nb is found to manifest itself in the Ni80Fe20 layer by a sharpening in the resonance of the ferromagnet, or a decrease in the effective Gilbert damping coefficient, showing that the superconductivity affects the macrospin of the ferromagnetic layer. We interpret this in terms of the spin-pumping model.     

Microwave permeability of metamaterials based on ferromagnetic composites

In this paper, we focus on metamaterials based on ferromagnetic composite combined with an inductive pattern. CoFeSiB amorphous ferromagnetic glass-coated microwires and thin films are involved in the composite. The inductive pattern is a coiling of Copper wire with a varying number of loops. We derived the microwave permeability of the ferromagnetic material inside the inductive pattern through a Landau–Gilbert model of gyromagnetism. In agreement with experimental results, the engineering of resonance frequency of the sample is achieved through the number of loops of the coiling.     

Influence of additives on the magnetic damping constant of CoIr soft magnetic thin films with negative magnetocrystalline anisotropy

The oriented(CoIr)_(100-x)P_x(P = B, Ni, and SiO_2) soft magnetic films are prepared. Their morphology is measured using transmission electron microscopy(TEM), and reveals that these films exhibit good crystallinity and high degree of the c-axis orientation. The magnetic properties are thoroughly investigated as a function of doping x. Our results show that all of these films possess negative magnetocrystalline anisotropy as required by possible applications. Both the intrinsic and extrinsic contributions are considered to interpret the broadening of the ferromagnetic resonance spectral linewidth. The intrinsic Gilbert damping is identified as the main cause of the linewidth broadening, while the extrinsic part originating from inhomogeneities only plays a minor role. More interestingly, our results show that the damping constant can be controlled by using the doping method.