Microstructure and microwave permeability of FeCo thin films with Co underlayer

Microstructure, static magnetic properties and microwave permeability of sputtered FeCo films were examined. Fe₆₀Co₄₀ films (100 nm in thickness) deposited on glass substrates exhibited in-plane isotropy and a large coercivity of 161.1 Oe. When same thickness films were deposited on 2.5 nm Co underlayer, well-defined in-plane anisotropy was formed with an anisotropy field of 65 Oe. The sample had a static initial permeability of about 285, maximum imaginary permeability of 1255 and ferromagnetic resonance frequency of 2.71 GHz. Cross-sectional TEM image revealed that the Co underlayer had induced a columnar grain structure with grain diameter of 10 nm in the FeCo films. In comparison, FeCo films without Co underlayer showed larger grains of 70 nm in diameter with fewer distinct vertical grain boundaries. In addition, the Co underlayer changed the preferred orientation of the FeCo from (1 0 0) to (1 1 0). The improvement in soft magnetic properties and microwave behavior originates from the modification of the film microstructure, which can be well understood by the random anisotropy theory.     

L10-ordered high coercivity (FePt)Ag-C granular thin films for perpendicular recording

We report (FePt)Ag-C granular thin films for potential applications to ultrahigh density perpendicular recording media, that were processed by co-sputtering FePt, Ag, and C targets on MgO underlayer deposited on thermally oxidized Si substrates. (FePt)_1−xAg_x-yvol%C (0<x<0.2, 0<y<50) films were fabricated on oxidized silicon substrates with a 10 nm MgO interlayer at 450^oC. We found that the Ag additions improved the L1₀ ordering and the granular structure of the FePt-C films with the perpendicular coercivity ranging from 26 to 37 kOe for the particle size of 5-8 nm. The (FePt)_0.9Ag_0.1-50vol%C film showed the optimal magnetic properties as well as an appropriate granular morphology for recording media, i.e., average grain size of D_av=6.1 nm with the standard deviation of 1.8 nm.     

Solid phase epitaxy of Ge films on CaF2/Si(1 1 1)

At room temperature deposited Ge films (thickness < 3 nm) homogeneously wet CaF₂/Si(1 1 1). The films are crystalline but exhibit granular structure. The grain size decreases with increasing film thickness. The quality of the homogeneous films is improved by annealing up to 200 °C. Ge films break up into islands if higher annealing temperatures are used as demonstrated combining spot profile analysis low energy electron diffraction (SPA-LEED) with auger electron spectroscopy (AES). Annealing up to 600 °C reduces the lateral size of the Ge islands while the surface fraction covered by Ge islands is constant. The CaF₂ film is decomposed if higher annealing temperatures are used. This effect is probably due to the formation of GeF_x complexes which desorb at these temperatures.     

Effect of composition on phase formation,microstructure and magnetic properties of Nd–Fe–B thin films

Nd–Fe–B hard magnetic thin films were deposited on a combined Cr/Ta buffer layer on heated MgO(1 0 0) substrates by pulsed laser deposition. The effect of composition on phase formation, morphology and magnetic properties was investigated. For a quantification of phase formation, hysteresis measurements along the hard axis are used. Optimum phase formation is obtained at a Nd/Fe ratio around 0.3. For this Nd content an excellent magnetic texture and a coercivity up to 1 T can be obtained; however, remanence is reduced and the films have a granular microstructure with high roughness. Also a certain B surplus is of benefit. However, with a too-high B or Nd surplus phase formation is more difficult.     

Thickness-dependent magnetization reversal in CoZrNb amorphous films

Structure and magnetization of CoZrNb amorphous films prepared by DC magnetron sputtering have been studied as a function of film thickness (t), from 35 to 840 nm. Using comprehensive characterization, we show that the CoZrNb amorphous films possess a single phase and no nanocrystalline can be detected. The magnetic measurements indicate that the magnetization reversal of CoZrNb films is strongly dependent on t. That is, the coercivity is abruptly reduced to be lower than 4 Oe with t increasing from 35 to 105 nm, and then gradually decreases to ∼0.2 Oe as t increases. This coercivity transition versus t is accompanied by the strong magnetization reversal when t is larger than 105 nm. The results reveal that CoZrNb amorphous films with comparatively large film thickness (>100 nm) are suitable for sensors and anti-faked materials.     

Thin Co films with tunable ferromagnetic resonance frequency

The tailored production of thin Co films of 50 nm thick with ferromagnetic resonance frequency in a range from 2.9 to 7.3 GHz using the DC magnetron sputtering is reported. The ferromagnetic resonance frequency, coercivity, effective magnetic field and nanocrystalline structure parameters are shown to be governed by the Co deposition rate. For this investigation, FMR, VSM and TEM techniques were used.     

Magnetic properties of co-sputtered Tb-Co2FeAl films with perpendicular anisotropy

We present a systematic study on magnetic properties of co-sputtered Tb-Co₂FeAl (TCFA) films. The TCFA films with suitable Tb content have perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA). The PMA deteriorates with both decreasing film thickness and high temperature annealing. Under a certain thickness, the perpendicular coercivity of the TCFA films with PMA can be reduced down to 60 Oe, which is comparable with normal soft ferromagnets. After annealing at 100 °C, a large remanence squareness of 0.95 is observed in the TCFA film with 33% Tb and a thickness of 30 nm.     

Exchange coupling in CoO–Co bilayer

In this work, exchange bias and coercivity enhancement in ferromagnet (FM)–antiferromagnet (AFM) bilayer have been investigated. CoO film (50 nm) was deposited by sputtering with a relatively high oxygen partial pressure. The deposited films were subsequently annealed at varied temperature up to 973 K in the air atmosphere. The CoO film shows a disordered structure in the as-deposited state and an increase of crystallinity after annealing characterized by XRD and Raman spectra. A 40-nm Co film was deposited on the as-deposited CoO and annealed films. The Co–CoO bilayer shows a large exchange bias up to 1600 Oe and relatively high coercivity up to 3200 Oe (H_C−) at 5 K, which is much larger than that of crystalline Co–CoO bilayer films without any treatment. The spin glass behavior combined with increasing crystallinity, surface roughness of CoO after annealing may be attributed to the large exchange bias and high coercivity.     

Comparison of frequency,field, and time domain ferromagnetic resonance methods

We present vector network analyzer ferromagnetic resonance measurements of epitaxial Fe films having a thickness of 16 monolayers. Our objective is to test the reliability of this novel frequency domain technique with respect to frequency and damping. For this purpose we compare vector network analyzer ferromagnetic resonance to pulsed inductive microwave magnetometry, time resolved magneto-optic Kerr effect (both methods in the time domain), and conventional ferromagnetic resonance (measured in the field domain) in terms of position and width of the ferromagnetic resonance. In addition, we compare the various techniques with respect to the signal to noise ratio of the raw data. All data is obtained using the same well characterized ultrathin magnetic Fe/GaAs (0 0 1) film. Finally, we demonstrate the potential of the vector network analyzer ferromagnetic resonance technique for the investigation of nano-structured magnetic elements having nonuniform magnetization configuration. The absorption spectrum of Permalloy disks with a diameter of 200 nm and a thickness of 15 nm shows up to eight distinct resonance peaks. The spatial structure of the corresponding modes was derived from numerical calculations and reveals that azimuthal modes up to the fifth order have been observed inductively.     

Effect of oxygen exposure on the magnetic properties of ultrathin Co/Si(1 1 1)-7×7 films

Effect of oxygen exposure on the magnetic properties of ultrathin Co/Si(1 1 1)-7×7 films have been studied. In ultrahigh vacuum environment, Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) analysis shows that no oxygen adsorption occurs on Si(1 1 1)-7×7 surface and Co-Si compound interfaces. As the thickness of Co films increases above 5 monolayers (ML), pure cobalt islands form on the surface and the amount of oxygen on the surface layers increases with increasing the oxygen exposure time. From the results of slight chemical shift and depth profiling measurements, the oxygen is weakly adsorbed on the topmost layer of 15 ML Co/Si(1 1 1) films. The adsorbed oxygen influences the electronic density of states of Co and leads to the changes of the magnetic properties. The appearance of the O/Co interface could modify the stress anisotropy, as a result, the coercivity of ultrathin Co/Si(1 1 1) films are enhanced. As an example for 15 ML Co/Si(1 1 1), the coercivity increases from 140 to 360 Oe with 5000 Langmuir of oxygen exposure.     

Enhancement of L10 ordered FePt by Pt buffer layer

L₁₀-ordered FePt thin films prepared by molecular-beam epitaxy on MgO (0 0 1) substrate at 320 °C with different thickness of Pt buffer layer have been investigated. The out-of-plane coercivity increases with increasing thickness of Pt buffer. The maximum values of the long-range order parameter and uniaxial magnetic anisotropy energy are 0.72 and 1.78×10⁷ erg/cm³, respectively, for films with 12 nm thick Pt buffer layer, where the c/a ratio (0.976) shows the minimum value. The reason for the enhancement in ordering is due to the proper lattice strains Pt buffer bestows on FePt layer, these strains are equal to the contraction in lattice parameter c and the expansion in a. Studies of angular-dependent coercivity revealed that the magnetization reversal behaviour shifts from a domain-wall motion dominated case towards a near rotational mode with increasing thickness of Pt buffer layer.     

Abnormal reduction of coercivity on magnetic cobalt–platinum alloy films

Ultrathin Co–Pt alloy films as substrate were studied by the surface magneto-optical Kerr effect. As the growth of Ni, the films show uniquely high polar Kerr responses without any in-plane signals. The coercivity decreased until the thickness of Ni film was higher than 5 ML. A new surface structure was discovered at 7–10 ML Ni/Co–Pt films by the low-energy electron diffraction. Interestingly, polar Kerr signal and coercivity of the 10 ML Ni/Co–Pt(1 1 1) template film reduced rapidly as Co films were further deposited onto only about 1–2 ML. Then the films show a canted magnetization with a rollback hysteresis in the polar configuration during the growth of Co. Coercivity of the 7 ML Co/Ni/Co–Pt film was found unusually down to almost 100 Oe.The corresponding magic number at around 7 ML of Co in the abnormal reduction of coercivity may be attributed to the cluster formations of Co.     

Effect of stress in copper ferrite thin films

Cubic copper ferrite thin films, obtained by rf sputtering on quartz and subsequent post-annealing and quenching, show a large coercivity of about 300–600 Oe. Stress measurements using X-ray diffraction show high value of stress of about 400–1000 MPa. Both the stress and coercivity are found to increase with the decrease of the thickness of the films. There appears to be a contribution of the stress to the coercivity of the films, in the in-plane M–H loops.     

Magnetic properties and characterization of CoCrM/TiCr/Si films produced by pulsed laser deposition

A series of nanogranular CoCrM/TiCr thin films have been fabricated by pulsed-laser deposition on Si(1 1 1) substrates at 450–500 °C. The crystal structure and magnetic properties of these films were investigated. The transmission electron microscope images with selected area diffraction and X-ray diffraction showed that the structure of as-prepared films is dependent on laser energy and deposition temperature. It was found that the microstructure of CoCrM/TiCr films consisted of fine dispersive crystal grains, while the preferential c-axis orientation of films deteriorated when the thickness of CoCr-alloy layer increased along with metal doping into the CoCr films. The magnetic properties of CoCrM/TiCr films formed on Si are strongly dependent on the thickness of magnetic layer, grain structure, and grain shape. Enhancement of coercivity and squareness of the laser-deposited film is probably due to the improvement in the magnetocrystalline anisotropy energy and the reduction in the thickness of magnetic layer.     

Magnetization reversal process and intrinsic coercivity of sputtered Sm2Co17-based films

The Sm₂Co₁₇-based intermetallic films with additives of Fe, Cu, and Zr have been deposited on Si(1 0 0) substrates by dc magnetron sputtering process. Subsequent thermal treatment and the film thickness are found to have significant contribution to the crystal structure and grain structure, which determines the magnetization reversal process and intrinsic coercivity (H_C) of these films. The conventional thermal annealing (CTA) treatment almost failed to crystallize the as-deposited films, leading to a very low H_C. Continuous and homogeneous domain walls cannot form in this deteriorated microstructure, so that the pinning mechanism can be excluded. Contrarily, the films with thickness exceeding 0.8 μm treated by rapid recurrent thermal annealing (RRTA) show an improved H_C, which is attributed to the observed completed crystallization and compact microstructure. It is suggested that this film structure is responsible for providing continuous and homogeneous domain walls, leading to a magnetization reversal process controlled by domain wall pinning model. In special, the H_C of the RRTA-treated film with thickness of 1.8 μm shows a good temperature dependence from 25 to 300 °C, with intrinsic coercivity temperature coefficient β of −0.23%/°C.     

Strongly in-plane magnetized FePt thin film on ultrathin Fe underlayer

The effect of ultrathin Fe underlayer on the strong in-plane magnetization of FePt magnetic thin film was investigated. This FePt thin film could be attained using the ultrathin Fe underlayer with 1 nm thickness. The in-plane coercivity of FePt film with 20 nm thickness grown on ultrathin Fe underlayer was high up to 7400 Oe. However, its out-of-plane coercivity was extremely low to 350 Oe compared to those of FePt thin films in other conventional studies. This result indicates that FePt thin film was strongly in-plane magnetized by ultrathin Fe underlayer. The strong ordering phase transformation kinetics and the high texturing to in-plane direction of the FePt thin film by ultrathin Fe underlayer were confirmed by Kinetics Monte Carlo (KMC) simulation and XRD measurement result, respectively. It is also supposed that they are associated with the reduction of an interface free energy between the film and the substrate with an introduction of ultrathin underlayer.     

Stress impedance effect of FeCoSiB/Cu/FeCoSiB sandwich layers on flexible substrate

FeCoSiB/Cu/FeCoSiB sandwich layers were deposited on flexible substrate to develop flexible stress/strain sensors. The influence of stress on the impedance of the multilayers is reported. The results show that the variation of the impedance increases with the increase in deflection of the free end of the cantilever. A relative change in impedance of 6.4% is obtained in the FeCoSiB(1.5 μm)/Cu(0.25 μm)/FeCoSiB(1.5 μm) sandwich layers at 1 MHz with deflection of 2 mm. The stress impedance effects are sensitive to the frequency of the current and the thickness of both FeCoSiB and Cu layers. The stress impedance effect increases with the increase in the thickness of FeCoSiB or Cu layers. The stress impedance effect increases slightly with the increase in frequency and decreases with the further increase in frequency, which can be understood by the stress and frequency-dependent permeability of magnetic films.     

Magnetic properties of strontium hexaferrite films prepared by pulsed laser deposition

The magnetic properties of strontium hexaferrite (SrFe₁₂O₁₉) films fabricated by pulsed laser deposition on the Si(100) substrate with Pt(111) underlayer have been studied as a function of film thickness (50–700 nm). X-ray diffraction patterns confirm that the films have c-axis perpendicular orientation. The coercivities in perpendicular direction are higher than those for in-plane direction which indicates the films have perpendicular magnetic anisotropy. The coercivity was found to decrease with increasing of thickness, due to the increasing of the grain size and relaxation in lattice strain. The 200 nm thick film exhibits hexagonal shape grains of 150 nm and optimum magnetic properties of M_s=298 emu/cm³ and H_c=2540 Oe.     

Amorphous Ni-Al underlayer-accelerated L10 ordering transition of FePt thin films

In the present study, we succeeded in accelerating the L1₀ ordering transition of FePt thin films by employing amorphous Ni-Al as underlayers. The coercivity H_c = 5 kOe and ordering parameter S = 0.67 of FePt thin films deposited on a Ni-Al underlayer with a thickness of ∼5 nm after 380 °C annealing for 30 min are significantly higher than those H_c = 0.4 kOe and S = 0.35 of the films without the Ni-Al underlayer. The L1₀ ordering process of and the coercivity of FePt thin films can be significantly tuned by varying the thickness of the Ni-Al underlayer.     

Preparation of strontium hexaferrite film by pulsed laser deposition with in situ heating and post annealing

Strontium hexaferrite (SrFe₁₂O₁₉) films have been fabricated by pulsed laser deposition on Si(1 0 0) substrate with Pt(1 1 1) underlayer through in situ and post annealing heat treatments. C-axis perpendicular oriented SrFe₁₂O₁₉ films have been confirmed by X-ray diffraction patterns for both of the in situ heated and post annealed films. The cluster-like single domain structures are recognized by magnetic force microscopy. Higher coercivity in perpendicular direction than that for the in-plane direction shows that the films have perpendicular magnetic anisotropy. High perpendicular coercivity, around 3.8 kOe, has been achieved after post annealing at 500 °C. Higher coercivity of the post annealed SrFe₁₂O₁₉ films was found to be related to nanosized grain of about 50–80 nm.