Magnetic anisotropy of multilayer [Fe/Pt]n structures

The possibility of controlling the magnetic anisotropy of multilayer [Fe/Pt]n structures grown by magnetron sputtering of Fe and Pt plates by varying number n of layers is studied. Mössbauer spectroscopy data and measured magnetic hysteresis loops demonstrate that the multilayer [Fe/Pt]n structures at n = 16 have a predominantly perpendicular magnetic anisotropy. The results of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and micromagnetic simulation point to the presence of intermediate layers enriched in iron ions in the structures. The magnetic anisotropy perpendicular to the surface of the [Fe/Pt]n films at n = 16 is found to be caused by the anisotropy of the intermediate layers.     

Magnetization process of Fe layers in Fe/Nd multilayered films investigated by57Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy

The magnetization process of Fe and Nd layers at 5K in Fe/Nd multilayered films with strong perpendicular magnetic anisotropy is elucidated from a comparison of⁵⁷Fe Mössbauer spectra in the presence of the external field applied parallel to the film plane with total magnetization. At zero external field, the film has a magnetic multi-domain structure. The Nd layer moment is perpendicular to the film plane and the Fe layer moment points in the out-of-plane direction. The Fe layer moment monotonically rotates to the in-plane direction with increasing external field parallel to the film plane, while the Nd layer moment is oriented to the film normal direction up to the external field of 10kOe, above which the Nd layer moment gradually turns to the direction of the external field.     

Magnetic and Mössbauer studies of Fe/Mo multilayered thin films

Fe(x)/Mo(y), multilayered thin films (MLF) with y=7.0 nm and x=0.7, 1.3, 2.6, 3.6, 13.0 nm were fabricated by radio frequency (RF) sputtering. X-ray diffraction evidences that these films have a good periodicity and bcc structure for both Fe and Mo layers. Mössbauer spectra at room temperature (RT) are used to investigate the structure and the local magnetic properties of the interfaces between Fe and Mo layers. It is found that the interfaces present alloying features, i.e. the Fe atoms are randomly substituted by Mo atoms. Magnetic anisotropy which forces magnetic moments to lie in the film plane and reduced magnetic moments in interface region were observed. The specific magnetization of the films exhibits a BT^3/2 dependence with very large values of B which can be attributed to the distribution of exchange interaction in the interfaces.     

Magnetic interface-anisotropy of amorphous iron in contact with nonmagnetic metals

The magnetic properties of very thin ferromagnetic Fe films (1–10 atomic layers) in contact with nonmagnetic amorphous metals are investigated. Apart from the demagnetization energy, which supports a magnetization in the film plane, an energy of magnetic anisotropy occurs in the interlayer, which has the tendency to turn the magnetization perpendicular to the surface. The anomalous Hall effect of the ferromagnetic films is used to investigate their magnetic properties. From the measurements we get the applied magnetic fieldB _s , which is necessary to turn the magnetization perpendicular to the film surface.B _s is, besides a constant term, proportional to 1/d, which is typical of surface effects and yields the energy of the interface anisotropy. The value of this energy is strongly dependent on the nonmagnetic metal and is smaller for the system Pb/Fe than for Sn/Fe. Furthermore, the experimental results show no drastic reduction of the atomic magnetic moment in the surface layer.     

Structural and Magnetic Properties of [Fe/Ni]N Multilayers

[Fe/Ni]N multilayered structure grows epitaxially on the single crystalline MgO substrate. Due to the different directions of magnetic easy axes of Fe and Ni and the strong strain, large anisotropy dispersion is assumed. According to the layer model, the magnetization of Fe and Ni layers cannot follow each easy axis because of exchange coupling, and then the anisotropies are averaged out. The reduction of the effective anisotropy enhances with the decrease of periodic thickness. Thus, the coercivity of [Fe/Ni]N multilayers reduces with decreasing periodic thickness.     

Ultrathin (CoFe/Pt)n multilayers with tuned magnetic properties

Perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) has been investigated in ultrathin (CoFe [0.2] nm/Pt [0.2] nm)_n multilayers. The Pt layers show an fcc crystal structure with a preferred [111] orientation. The multilayers with n=3, 4 show PMA in the as-grown state, which can be enhanced by thermal annealing. However, no PMA is observed in the as-grown state with higher repetitions (n>&=5), although it is observed after thermal annealing. For 1=&<n=&<8, the anisotropy energy is around 10⁵ J/m³ for all (CoFe [0.2]/Pt [0.2])_n stacks. The perpendicular anisotropy is related to layer thickness and interface roughness.     

Enhancement of magnetic properties of Co/Pd multilayered perpendicular magnetic recording media by using Pd/Si dual seedlayer

Effects of the introduction of a Pd/Si dual seedlayer on the microcrystalline structure and magnetic properties of [Co/Pd]_n multilayered perpendicular magnetic recording media were investigated. The Pd/Si dual seedlayer was composed of a Pd upper seedlayer and a Si under seedlayer. The Pd upper seedlayer with a thickness of up to 10 nm markedly increased the coercivity of [Co/Pd]_n multilayered media in the direction perpendicular to the film surface. The highest coercivity of 7.8 kOe was obtained for the [Co/Pd]₁₀ medium with a Pd (10 nm)/Si (100 nm) dual seedlayer. The Pd upper seedlayer not only facilitated the formation of regular interfaces between the Co and Pd layers, but also reduced the thickness of the deteriorated initial layer in the [Co/Pd]_n multilayer, resulting in enhancement of the magnetic anisotropy field. The [Co/Pd]_n multilayered medium with the Pd/Si dual seedlayer exhibited weak intergranular exchange coupling between [Co/Pd]_n grains, which led to excellent read–write characteristics.     

Magnetic anisotropy in multilayers

Magnetic anisotropy between in-plane and out of plane magnetic alignments is studied in a variety of multilayer systems using Mössbauer spectrosopy to observe the (Fe) magnetic orientation. The surface anisotropy in Fe/Au (1 1 1) multilayers is measured as K _s = 0.9 × 10^?3 Jm^?2. In Fe/Ni multilayers the dependence of magnetic orientation on external field applied normal to the layers enables volume and interface anisotropies K _v = (?5 ± 1) × 10⁴ Jm^?3 and K _s = (?0.6 ± 0.4)× 10^?3 Jm^?2 to be evaluated. In similar applied field experiments coherent rotation of the magnetic Fe and NiFe layers in Fe/Cu/NiFe/Cu multilayers was observed for intervening Cu layer thickness x = 5 Å but independent rotation for x = 50 Å. Out of plane magnetic components are observed for DyFe₂, YFe₂ thin films and DyFe₂/YFe₂ multilayers. In fields of up to 0.25 T applied inplane only the moments of the YFe₂ film showed significant rotation.     

Ordered magnetic multilayer nanobowl array by nanosphere template method

Ordered magnetic multilayer [Co/Pt]_n nanobowls have been fabricated over a silicon substrate based on a polystyrene (PS) monolayer film. The ordered PS monolayer was first prepared by the self-assembly technique, which was used as the template for the multilayer film [Co/Pt]_n deposition. The ordered magnetic multilayer [Co/Pt]_n nanobowl array was obtained after the transferring and the selective etching process. The nanobowls show a uniform size and smooth surfaces. The nanobowls stuck to the neighbors and notches were observed in the bowl brims because of the contact points between the closed-packed PS beads. The nanobowls could be separated from their neighbors by thinning the PS beads before the film deposition and no notches were observed anymore. Compared to the chemical method, this method showed more flexible choices of the material to fabricate the nanobowls, which extended the application scope of the nanobowls greatly.     

Interface effects on Gd induced disordering of Co films on Pt(111)

Amorphization of epitaxial Co thin films grown on top of a Pt(111) surface has been studied by surface X-ray diffraction after deposition of Gd overlayers. The results indicate strong differences of the disordering process depending on the thickness of the Co film. First basic difference is that thick Co films (15 atomic layers) are only partially amorphized by 4 atomic layers of Gd on top of them, whereas thinner Co films (5 atomic layers) are completely disordered by just 2 atomic layers of Gd. Moreover, amorphization by Gd overlayers induces different stress relaxation processes in both cases. For 15 atomic layers thick Co films a preferential amorphization of the more strained Co grains is observed, leading to an effective relaxation of about ? 0.5% of the in-plane lattice parameter during amorphization, approaching its relaxed value. On the contrary, for 5 atomic layers thick Co films, the initial steps of disordering are accompanied by a stronger increase of the in-plane lattice constant, by about 1.4%, typical of Co–Pt interface alloy formation, followed by a complete amorphization. Furthermore, the magnetic characterization, carried out by magneto-optical Kerr effect and resonant magnetic surface X-ray diffraction, strongly supports that the amorphization of thin Co films is changing the nature of the Co/Pt interface. In particular, as Gd overlayers are deposited, and the amorphization proceeds, the structural disordering of the Co/Pt interface flips its characteristic perpendicular magnetic anisotropy toward in-plane orientation before the complete magnetic depolarization of the interface Pt atoms is reached. All these results confirm a marked dependence of amorphization processes on film thickness, which can be related to the enhanced influence of the nearby film/substrate interface.     

Effect of annealing in an external magnetic field on the microstructure and magnetic properties of the Fe/FePt/Pt multilayer system

The effect of annealing in an external magnetic field applied perpendicular to the plane of the film on the kinetics of Ll ₀ phase transformation of the microstructure and the magnetic properties of the Fe(2 nm)/FePt(20 nm)/Pt(2 nm) multilayer system has been investigated. The relations between the hysteresis loop shape, magnetic correlation length, and structural disorders, which are characteristic of magnetic information carriers, have been analyzed. It has been found that the annealing of the Fe(2 nm)/FePt(20 nm)/Pt(2 nm) multilayer system at a temperature of 470°C in an external magnetic field of 3500 Oe, which is applied perpendicular to the film plane, leads to the formation of a face-centered tetragonal structure of the Ll ₀ phase in the FePt film, which is characterized by the high coercivity H _c , the (001) preferred texture, the magnetic anisotropy perpendicular to the film plane, small sizes of FePt grains in the film, and weak exchange coupling between the particles. The energy of the external magnetic field encourages the process of transformation of the FePt film into the Ll ₀ phase. Thus, a method has been developed for fabricating multilayer films based on the FePt Ll ₀ phase with the parameters necessary for information carrier materials with perpendicular-type magnetic recording.     

Magnetische grenzflächen-anisotropie von amorphem Fe in kontakt mit nichtmagnetischen metallen

The magnetic properties of very thin ferromagnetic Fe films (1–10 atomic layers) in contact with nonmagnetic amorphous metals are investigated. Apart from the demagnetization energy, which supports a magnetization in the plane of the film, an energy of magnetic anisotropy occurs in the interlayer, which has the tendency to orient the magnetization perpendicular to the surface. The anomalous Hall effect of the ferromagnetic films is used to investigate their magnetic properties. From the measurements, we get the applied magnetic field B_s, which is necessary to orient the magnetization perpendicular to the film surface. In addition to a constant term, B_s is proportional to 1/d, which is typical of surface effects and yields the energy of the interface anisotropy. The value of this energy is strongly dependent on the nonmagnetic metal and is smaller for the system Pb/Fe than for Sn/Fe. Furthermore, the experimental results show no drastic reduction of the atomic magnetic moment in the surface layer.     

Perpendicular magnetic anisotropy and magnetic proximity effect in Pt1−δFeδ/Co multilayer films

The perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) and magnetization in Pt_1−δFe_δ/Co (δ=0, 0.017, 0.04 and 0.06) multilayer films have been investigated. It is found that, on adding a small amount of Fe into the Pt layers, Pt/Co multilayer films maintain well-defined PMA at both 5 and 300 K along with significantly enhanced magnetization even at room temperature, which is far greater than the Curie temperature of Pt_1−δFe_δ dilute alloys. Further study demonstrates that the large enhancement of the magnetization in the Fe doped Pt/Co multilayers at 300 K arises from the bulk moment of the Pt_1−δFe_δ layers at the interface region, where the ferromagnetic order persists up to room temperature due to the strengthened exchange interactions between Fe atoms via strongly polarized Pt near the Pt_1−δFe_δ/Co interfaces. For the Pt_0.96Fe_0.04/Pt multilayers, the magnetically ordered region in each Pt_0.96Fe_0.04 layer extends over at least 10 Å from the interface at room temperature.     

Regulating the magnetic anisotropy by Hf thickness and heat treatment in Pt/Co/Hf films

Pt/Co/Hf multilayers were prepared by magnetron sputtering, and the magnetic anisotropy was effectively regulated by Hf thickness and heat treatment in Pt/Co/Hf films. The interface microstructures were characterized. The influence of the interface microstructure on magnetic properties was studied. The results show that the magnetic anisotropy in Pt/Co/Hf films is closely related to the interface microstructure, which is influenced by Hf thickness and the heat treatment temperature. Microstructure analysis shows that after the Pt(3)/Co(1.5)/Hf(1) film is heat-treated, the CoO_x content increases, more CoPt(111) forms, the interface is smoother and sharper, and the roughness of the Co/Hf interface decreases. Several factors work together to cause the magnetic anisotropy of the sample to change from in-plane magnetic anisotropy (IMA)to perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA).     

Magnetoresistance anisotropy of strontium ruthenate films grown coherently on a TiO2-terminated SrTiO3(001) substrate

The SrRuO₃ films with a thickness of 80 nm have been coherently grown on a TiO₂-terminated SrTiO₃(001) substrate. Biaxial mechanical stresses induce a considerable difference between the unit cell parameters of the SrRuO₃ layer in the substrate plane (??3.904 ?) and along the normal to the substrate surface (??3.952 ?). The electrical resistivity of the SrRuO3 film decreases practically linearly with increasing magnetic field strength H when the latter is parallel to the current I _b and the projection of the easy magnetization axis in the substrate plane. At T = 4.2 K, ??₀ H = 14 T, and the magnetic field oriented along the hard magnetization axis, the negative anisotropic magnetoresistance of the grown layers reaches 16% and exerts a notice-able effect on the response of electrical resistivity of the SrRuO₃ film to the magnetic field.     

2-2型磁电复合薄膜CoFe2O4/Pb(Zr0.53Ti0.47)O3静磁耦合

运用溶胶-凝胶法在Pt/Ti/SiO₂/Si基片上旋涂制备了2-2型CoFe₂O₄/Pb(Zr_0.53Ti_0.47)O₃磁电复合薄膜．制备的磁电薄膜结构为基片/PZT/CFO/PZT*/CFO/PZT,通过改变中间层PZT*溶胶的浓度,改变磁性层间距以及静磁耦合的大小．SEM结果表明,复合薄膜结构致密,呈现出界面清晰平整的多层结构．制备的复合薄膜具有较好的铁电与铁磁性能．实验还研究了静磁耦合对薄膜磁电性能的影响,结果表明,随着复合薄膜磁性层间距的减小,静磁耦合效应的增加,磁电电压系数有逐渐增大的趋势.     

Ordering temperature of L10-type FePt films reduced by CuO addition

Effects of addition of CuO layers in L1₀-type FePt thin films are investigated. The ordering temperature of L1₀-type FePt films can be reduced by CuO addition. The coercivities of 0.78 and 0.82 T are achieved in [Pt(10 Å)/Fe(14 Å)/CuO(2 Å)]₁₀ film annealed at 550 °C for 20 min and [Pt(10 Å)/Fe(15 Å)/CuO(3 Å)]₁₀ film annealed at 600 °C for 20 min, respectively, and these values are compared to the coercivity of 0.8 T in [Pt(10 Å)/Fe(13 Å)]₁₀ film annealed at 650 °C. The thickness of Fe and CuO layers strongly influences the ordering temperature of L1₀-type FePt and the magnetic properties of the films. The addition of CuO not only brings microstructure and surface morphology changes of FePt film, but also lowers the ordering temperature.     

The microstructure and magnetic properties of electrodeposited Co–Pt thin films on Ru buffer layer

For high-density magnetic recording media, this study examined the crystal structure and the texture of electrodeposited cobalt–platinum (Co–Pt) films on Ru buffer layer. A 15-nm-thick Co–Pt film exhibited very high out-of-plane coercivity and squareness, which were 6248 Oe and 0.89, respectively. The coercivity, H_c, of Co–Pt films grown on Ru buffer layer decreased significantly with increasing thickness, possibly due to the lattice misfit of 5.4% between Co–Pt and Ru, leading to the decrease of perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) of Co–Pt films as indicated by the observed hexagonal-closed-packed (HCP) (1 1¯ 0 1) plane of Co–Pt films. According to nano beam diffraction pattern (NBDP), however, Co–Pt film grown on Ru layer of HCP exhibited mixed HCP and FCC phases. Also, cross-sectional TEM image suggests that the high PMA may result from the columnar structure of physically isolated Co–Pt grains with the c-axis perpendicular to the film plane.     

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.     

Discontinuity in heat capacity of Fe0.5Co0.5(110) alloy thin films

In this work we calculate heat capacity of alloy thin films of FeCo on the surface of the plane (110), using three parameters, the concentration x(i), the lattice long range order parameter t(i) and the magnetic order parameter σ(i), being i the number of layers of the thin film. The formulations reported by Hill [1] in the context of small particles and Valenta's model [2] can be applied to the film structure when we treat a thin film as a system divided into subsystems equivalent to two-dimensional parallel layers. The FeCo bulk alloy is completely homogeneous while a thin film have spatial discontinuities in their surfaces. We consider three ferromagnetic thin films formed by 11, 15 and 19 layers in the Helmholtz's free energy, which is minimized applying their first partial derivatives with respect to chemical composition, long range order parameter and magnetic order parameter. We calculate internal energy and heat capacity as a function of temperature and we verify that have two jumps as are reported in literature for the bulk; there are many results of bulk or surface effects of FeCo, but no enough results about ferromagnetic FeCo thin films and this fact does this work interesting.