Optical characterization of thermal-stress induced by spin waves in thin-film ferrimagnetic structures

It is shown that intense spin-dipole waves (SDWs) excited in thin yttrium iron garnet (YIG) films induce an in-plane thermal stress (σ) of 1-2 MPa in a YIG/GGG structure (where GGG is gadolinium gallium garnet). In YIG/GGG with normal magnetization, σ shifts its ferromagnetic resonance frequency by ≈1 MHz, which is comparable to the linewidth of the absorption curve of YIG/GGG resonators. The effect was characterized by an optical technique that detects σ in the GGG substrate. It was also demonstrated that this effect can be used for the optical-microwave spectroscopy of spin waves in thin ferromagnetic films, by using thermal mapping of SDWs in the substrate. We have shown that this opens up the possibility of determining the contribution of the two-particle magneto-elastic interaction to the microwave heating of the sample.     

Thickness-shear modes and magnetoelastic waves in a longitudinally magnetized ferromagnetic plate

Magnetoelastic (ME) waves and thickness-shear modes in the ferromagnetic plate are studied. Coupled vibrations of magnetization and shear elastic deformations excited simultaneously by a variable magnetic field propagate in two mutually perpendicular directions: parallel and normal to a surface. For parameters characteristic of isotropic ferromagnet with the sample magnetization and Zeeman field parallel to the surface, resonant frequencies of shear modes are computed and their dispersion law is examined. It is shown that the dependence of dimensional resonances frequencies on wave number k_z of ME wave propagating along saturating field direction occurs. The possibility of excitation of ME waves with different k_z explains multimode character of thickness ME resonances.     

Frequency dependence of sound amplitude in antiferromagnetic crystal FeBO3

Frequency dependence of amplitude of transverse acoustic wave in antiferromagnetic monocrystal iron borate was investigated. It was shown that experimental amplitude–frequency characteristics may be interpreted on the basis of developed theory of magnetic birefringence of sound in FeBO₃ taking into account defect structure of the real crystal, experimental boundary conditions and pass band of piezotransducers.     

Femtosecond electron and spin dynamics probed by nonlinear optics

Received: 20 September 1998     

Lack of magnetoacoustic emission in iron with 6.5% silicon

The phenomenon of magnetoacoustic emission (MAE) has been ascribed usually to one of two origins: either (1) motion of non-180° domain walls or (2) creation or annihilation of domains. In this paper, we present strong evidence for the argument that the only origin for MAE is motion of non-180° domain walls. The proof is evident as a result of measurements of zero MAE for a wide range of stress in the isotropic zero magnetostrictive polycrystalline alloy of iron with 6.5% silicon. We also explain why it was that the alternative origin was proposed and how the data in that same experiment can be reinterpreted to be consistent with the non-180° wall motion origin.     

Peculiarities of electric polarization in bi-layered longitudinally magnetized ferrromagnetic film

Electric polarization arising in a vicinity of magnetic inhomogenety in longitudinally magnetized ferromagnetic films has been considered. A variety of polarization transformations induced by external magnetic field have been studied. It has been demonstrated that electric polarization can change continuously or with a jump-like character depending on intrinsic, mainly anisotropic properties of the layers, the direction and the value of external magnetic field.     

Fabrication and magnetic properties of Ce1Y2Fe5O12 thin films on GGG and SiO2/Si substrates

Microstructure and magnetic properties of crystalline Ce₁Y₂Fe₅O₁₂ thin films prepared on GGG and on SiO₂/Si substrates by pulsed laser deposition were studied. The results show that highly textured Ce₁Y₂Fe₅O₁₂ film with (4 4 4) preferred orientation prepared on GGG (1 1 1) shows strong paramagnetism superimposed by a weak ferromagnetism. However, polycrystalline Ce₁Y₂Fe₅O₁₂ thin films on SiO₂/Si, which can only be obtained after post-annealing, show strong ferromagnetism with easy axis of magnetization lying in the plane of the film. With post-annealing temperature increasing, CeO₂ segregates from Ce₁Y₂Fe₅O₁₂; then YIG continues to be decomposed, forming Fe₂O₃. Consequently, the saturation magnetization of Ce₁Y₂Fe₅O₁₂ films decreases first and then increases correspondingly, which indicates that the magnetic properties of Ce₁Y₂Fe₅O₁₂ films are mainly related to the microstructure.     

Polar and longitudinal magnetooptical Kerr effects in magnetic film/spacer/magnetic substrate system

The paper deals with the electromagnetic theory of longitudinal and normal incidence polar magnetooptical Kerr effects (MOKE) in sandwich structures consisting of a magnetic film on a thick magnetic substrate separated by a nonmagnetic spacer. These structures are employed in fundamental studies of magnetic exchange coupling, tunnel magnetoresistance, spin polarized current,etc., as well as in the design of the magnetoelectronic devices,e.g., magnetic random access memories. The results are expressed in terms of the Jones reflection matrix. This makes the analysis of the observed MOKE in various experimental set-ups easier. To first order in off-diagonal elements of the permittivity tensor, the analytical expressions approximate the results obtained using rigorous matrix formalisms with a little loss in accuracy, provided the magnetooptical effects quadratic in the offdiagonal elements are negligible. The total MOKE is expressed as a a sum of components originating from magnetic film and magnetic substrate, respectively. The components enter the analytical expressions with different phases and may be identified separately by a proper control of the polarization state and photon energy of the incident radiation, angle of incidence, nonmagnetic spacer thickness, and radiation wavelength. The formulae are derived without any restriction on the magnetic film thickness. However, for a rapid evaluation of the trends the MOKE response is also treated under the assumption that the thickness of the magnetic film is much smaller than the radiation wavelength. This work has been partially supported by Grant Agency of the Czech Republic (#202/97/1180 and #202/00/0761), Barrande Project and Grant Agency of Charles University.     

The peculiarities of coupled electromagnetic and magnetoelastic waves in antiferromagnets

A spectrum of coupled electromagnetic, spin and elastic waves in a two-sublattice antiferromagnet with weak ferromagnetism is theoretically investigated. The influence of the g-factor anisotropy and the transverse and longitudinal relaxation in magnetic subsystem on the spectrum of coupled waves is considered. The most changes of dispersion laws occurred in long-wavelength approximation and near the spin reorientation point, then the vectors of ferromagnetism and antiferromagnetism reoriented onto another crystallographic axis. It is shown that the magnetoelastic, the Dzyaloshinsky and the dipole interactions, the anisotropy of g-factor, the external magnetic field and the longitudinal susceptibility determine the activation of quasiferromagnetic waves. The dispersion laws of quasielectromagnetic and quasielastic waves can change from linear dependence to square. At large damping in magnetic subsystem, one from these modes can become the pure relaxation one.     

Magnetic polaritons in metamagnet layered structures: Spectra and localization properties

The magnetic polariton propagation in metamagnet layered structures is theoretically studied by using a transfer matrix approach. The layered structures considered here are made up by the stacking of two different layers (also known as building blocks, named A and B), where one of them is a metamagnetic thin film (A), while the other is a non-magnetic insulator thin layer (B). We take into account both the antiferromagnetic (AFM) and ferromagnetic (FM) phases of the metamagnetic material. For the periodic arrangement, the bulk modes are characterized by two large symmetric bands, with non-reciprocal surface modes between them. The quasiperiodic metamagnetic structure is then built up by following the Fibonacci sequence, whose long-range order effect is then investigated, giving rise to an interesting self-similar spectra and a power-law profile.     

An effective method for improving diffraction performance of magnetostatic backward volume wave-based magneto-optic Bragg cells by using an appropriately tilted bias magnetic field in YIG film plane

The universal magneto-optic (MO) coupled-mode equations for magnetostatic waves (MSWs) and guided optical waves (GOWs) under arbitrarily tilted bias magnetic fields are presented for the first time and, as an example, applied to the noncollinear Stokes interaction between the incident TE₀-mode light and magnetostatic backward volume wave (MSBVW) excited by single-element microstrip line transducer in yttrium–iron–garnet (YIG) film. Our calculation indicates that, for the case of magnetization parallel to the MSBVW propagation direction, the diffraction efficiency (DE) is equal to the mode-conversion efficiency of the diffracted lights (MCDE) and the calculated curve of relative DE for the MSBVW-based MO Bragg cell in pure YIG waveguide is in good agreement with the experimental data. In contrast, the diffraction performance can be greatly improved by optimizing the bias magnetic field and the DE gain can be increased by 6.3 dB in the tangentially magnetized film. The angular dependences of the DE and the corresponding Bragg angle upon the magnetization direction are also discussed in the paper.     

Optical phenomena in bismuth-substituted ferrite-garnet films in external electric field

Magneto-electric properties of bismuth-substituted ferrite-garnet epitaxial films and yttrium ferrite-garnet films have been investigated by using optical polarimetry method, electromagneto-optical (EMO) effect. The EMO effect in the transverse electric (E) field was measured. In the yttrium ferrite-garnet films, the EMO effect in the specified geometry is not registered, though in a longitudinal E-field, it was observed by us. The EMO effect in separate multidomain areas of bismuth-substituted ferrite-garnet films was registered in the transverse electric field. A weak hysteresis appears in the magnetic-field dependences of the measured effect. A value of the EMO signal considerably depends on the external magnetic field, and in the homogeneously magnetized films, the EMO effect is practically absent. The irradiation of bismuth-substituted ferrite-garnet films by powerful laser impulse leads to increase of the EMO signal that can be a result of removal, in them, of nonuniform pressure.     

Magnetic and high-pressure magnetotransport properties of cesium-substituted lanthanum calcium manganites

The nature of the double-exchange (DE) interaction in lanthanum manganites is studied through chemical substitutions, Cs for La, and high-pressure measurements. Static and high-frequency magnetic measurements and high-pressure electrical transport studies were carried out on bulk polycrystalline and radio-frequency sputtered thin films of La_0.7-xCs_xCa_0.3MnO₃ for x=0-0.1. The samples are found to be cubic. Curie temperature T_c measurements provide evidence for bond-length-related weakening of DE as x is increased from 0 to 0.03. For higher x, the bond-angle-related changes lead to an increase in the strength of DE. High-pressure mangetoresistance data indicate both bond length and bond-angle-related increase of 10–20 K/GPa in T_c with pressure, with the largest increase measured for x=0.03. The rate of increase in the Curie temperature with pressure decreases with increasing T_c. Anomalies are observed in the magnetic parameters for x=0.03. The Cs-concentration dependence of the low-temperature saturation magnetization shows a minimum close to x=0.03. Ferromagnetic resonance studies at x-band reveal a 5% decrease in the g-value for x=0.03 relative to the end members (x=0 and 0.1). The low-field magnetostriction for x=0.03 indicates a relatively strong electron–phonon spin coupling compared to neighboring compositions. Received: 15 May 2000 / Accepted: 24 July 2000 / Published online: 9 November 2000     

Soft magnetic characteristics of an ultrathin CoFeNi free layer in spin-valve films

We have investigated the soft magnetic characteristics of an ultrathin Co-rich CoFeNi free layer in spin-valve films. By addition of Ni to a Co-rich CoFe free layer, magnetostriction (λ$\lambda$) of the films increased positively with Ni concentration, in contrast to which a Co₉₀Fe₁₀ free layer showed a negatively large λ$\lambda$. However, Ni addition also caused an increase in coercivity of the easy axis direction (H_c^e.a.). To avoid this problem, a slight decrease in the Co contents of a CoFeNi free layer was found to be effective for decreasing H_c^e.a.. In order to satisfy both the small λ$\lambda$ and H_c^e.a., a free layer of (Co₈₆Fe₁₄)₈₈₋₉₄Ni₁₂₋₆ proved to be an optimum composition in spin-valve films. Moreover, the zero λ$\lambda$ composition of the CoFeNi free layer was changed by a high-conductance Cu layer deposited on the free layer, which was considered to come from the lattice strain of a free layer.     

Tunable magnetic anisotropy of antiferromagnetic superlattice and resultant exchange bias of ferromagnetic layer on it

Exchange biasing of ferromagnetic layer deposited on the antiferromagnetic superlattice was investigated in (Co₇₀Fe₃₀/Ru)_29.5/Ru/Co₉₀Fe₁₀ multilayers. Uniaxial magnetic anisotropy (K_AF) was induced and tuned in the antiferromagentic superlattice by uniaxial substrate bending method through the inverse effect of magnetostriction. The exchange bias increased and tended to be saturated with increasing the K_AF, while it was not observed at K_AF=0.     

Study of the magnetostrictive strains in Pr6Fe11Ga3 alloy

Magnetoelastic properties of the Pr₆Fe₁₁Ga₃ alloy are studied by magnetostriction and thermal expansion measurements. The effects of short- and long-range magnetic ordering processes about Curie temperature clearly appear in the temperature dependence of the spontaneous magnetostriction as two increasing steps with decreasing temperatures. Thermal variations of the total magnetocrystalline anisotropy introduce pronounce changes in the isofield curves of the forced magnetostriction as a negative minimum below 200 K, a compensation phenomena about 250 K, and a positive maximum between 250 K and T_c=320 K. The observed behavior of magnetostriction is discussed in terms of the competitive anisotropies of Pr and Fe sublattices and coupling magnetostrictive constants.     

Dependence of optically induced magnetism on molecular electronic structure

Intense magnetic dipole scattering that has been observed recently in several transparent insulators arises nonlinearly and saturates as predicted by classical theory, but also varies with electronic structure of the medium.     

Critical bond lengths and their role in spontaneous magnetostriction of R2Fe17CX (R=Y,Nd, Gd,Tb, Er)

High-energy high-flux synchrotron X-rays have been used to study the spontaneous magnetostriction of R₂Fe₁₇ (R=Y, Nd, Gd, Tb, Er) and their carbides in the temperature range 10–1100 K. Addition of interstitial carbon greatly increases both the Curie temperatures (T_C) and the spontaneous magnetostrain of the compounds, while reduces the anisotropy of the magnetostrain by expanding the distances between rare-earth and neighboring Fe sites. The increase of T_C with carbon is due to the increased spatial separation of the Fe hexagon layers. On the basal plane, the Fe hexagons are squeezed and the contribution of Fe sublattice to spontaneous magnetostriction is attenuated, while that of rare-earth sublattice is enhanced. The average bond magnetostrain around Fe sites are in linear relation with their hyperfine field intensities.     

Microstructure and Optical Properties of AgxO Prepared by Direct-Current Magnetron-Sputtering Method

Two series of AgxO films are prepared on glass substrates by dc magnetron-sputtering method at room temperature and 90℃ under different oxygen to argon gas ratio （OAR） conditions. The mierostrueture is investigated by XRD and SEM in order to obtain the information on the component evolution of AgO＋Ag2O to Ag2O. Its optical properties are investigated by reflectance and absorption spectroscopy to extract the information on metallic and dielectric behaviour evolution of Ag2O, AgO and silver particles and the interband transition. The results indicate that the AgxO film prepared at room temperature is mainly made up of AgO and Ag2 O clusters while Ag2O is the primary component of AgxO prepared at 90℃. The AgxO film mainly consisting of the primary component shows indirect interband transition structure occurring at 2.89eV. Combination of increasing OAR and substrate temperature is an effective method to lower the threshold of thermal decomposition temperature of AgxO and to deal with the bottleneck of short-wavelength optical and magneto-optieM storage.     

Influence of H and N insertion on the magnetostriction and thermal expansion of YFe10V2Zx (Z=N,H) compositions

Experimental results on the thermal expansion and magnetostriction of YFe₁₀V₂ composites are reported and the influence of H and N interstitial atoms is studied. The anisotropic magnetostriction is about 30% larger in the composite than in the starting alloy. Also, the anisotropic magnetostriction remains positive after insertion of H (N) ion while the sign of volume magnetostriction changes by hydrogenation. The anisotropic magnetoelastic interactions are enhanced by insertion of H and especially N interstitial atoms. The results are discussed considering the effect of H and N, and of temperature on magnetic anisotropy and microstructure.