Magnetotransmission and magnetoreflection in multilayer FeCr nanostructures

The magnetotransmission and magnetoreflection spectra of a seven-layer Cr(28 Å)/Fe(36 Å)/Cr(13 Å)/Fe(18 Å)/Cr(13 Å)/Fe(36 Å)/Cr(28 Å) film, their temperature and field dependences measured at various directions of a magnetic field with respect to the film plane, and the correlations between these effects are studied. The experimental results are compared with the data on the magnetization and transverse Kerr effect. The magnetotransmittance and magnetoreflectance are calculated for this film in terms of the magnetorefractive effect theory. Apart from the film layer thickness, the effective relaxation time, the plasma frequency, and the spin asymmetry parameter are shown to strongly affect both the magnitudes and spectral dependences of the magnetotransmittance and magnetoreflectance. Although the calculation results qualitatively describe the signs and the spectral and field dependences of the magnetotransmittance and magnetoreflectance, they do not agree quantitatively with the experimental results, in particular, near the visible region. The causes of the quantitative discrepancies are discussed.     

Generation of nonequilibrium phonons in semiconductors and dielectrics by a pulse-heated metallic film: Model and experiment

Characteristics of a phonon generator in the form of a pulse-heated metallic film, viz., the time dependences of the film temperature and the kinetics of phonon ejection from the film into a substrate, are considered. The time dependences of the film temperature are calculated for cadmium telluride, diamond, and silicon substrates. It is shown that the duration of film cooling substantially exceeds the heating pulse length and the film continues to generate phonons with lower frequencies at the end of heating pulse. The inference is drawn that the film cooling should be correctly taken into account in analysis of the propagation of nonequilibrium acoustic phonons, specifically for phonon processes occurring in nanostructures.     

Nonlinear properties of two-phase composite films with a fractal structure

Inhomogeneous two-phase conducting films whose structure is intermediate between three-and two-dimensional configurations are discussed. The longitudinal film size exceeds the correlation length, and its thickness is less than the correlation length. In the case of weak nonlinearity, we found dependences of the film resistivity on the concentration and size of conducting particles, as well as on the film thickness, in the framework of a percolation approach.     

Ferromagnetic resonance in monocrystalline spin valves CoFeB/Ta/CoFeB and CoFeB films with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy

Orientation dependences of ferromagnetic resonance in a MgO/CoFeB/MgO/Ta film with one ferromagnetic layer (monolayer) and in a MgO/CoFeB/Ta/CoFeB/MgO/Ta spin valve containing two single-crystal ferromagnetic CoFeB layers divided by a nonmagnetic Ta layer (bilayer) were investigated. Analysis of the orientation dependences of the structures with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy allowed calculating constants of magnetic anisotropy and damping factors. Physical reasons underlying the differences between these parameters in one- and two-layered structures are discussed.     

Critical magnetization and hysteresis of nanogranular films with perpendicular anisotropy

The magnetic-field dependences of the stability boundaries of the nonequilibrium magnetic states that exist in a nanogranular film with perpendicular anisotropy in tilted magnetic fields are theoretically described, and the corresponding critical magnetization is calculated. The field dependences of the critical magnetization of the film are analyzed at various ratios of the anisotropy field of particles to the maximum possible demagnetizing field of the film. In a tilted magnetic field, the magnetization reversal curves, which include hysteresis loops, are shown to consist of segments of the following three types: equilibrium stable magnetization, nonequilibrium stable magnetization, and critical type of magnetization.     

Calculation of the RF Conductivity and Hall Constant of a Thin Metal Film

The kinetic problem of finding the rf conductivity and Hall constant of a thin metal film placed in a transverse steady magnetic field and a longitudinal variable electric field has been considered. It has been assumed that electrons diffusely reflect from the upper and lower surfaces of the film. No limitations have been imposed on the relationship between the thickness of the film and the electron free path. The dependences of the conductivity and Hall constant on dimensionless parameters, namely, electric field frequency, magnetic field induction, and thickness of the film, have been studied. Calculation results have been compared with the experimental data.     

Conducting and reflecting properties of thin metal films

Amorphous silver, copper, gold, and iron films with a thickness of 6–60 nm have been grown on a polymer substrate by the method of vacuum deposition. The dependences of the specific conductivity and the microwave reflection coefficient on the film thickness are obtained and a relation between these values is established.     

Manifestation of a ferroelectric phase transition in ultrathin films of polyvinylidene fluoride

Temperature dependences of the dielectric properties of ultrathin polyvinylidene fluoride films prepared using the Langmuir-Blodgett method were studied by linear and nonlinear dielectric spectroscopy. It is shown that ultrathin Langmuir films of polyvinylidene fluoride exhibit a manifestation of a first-order ferroelectric phase transition, which can be assigned to the interaction between the spontaneous polarization and the surfaces bounding the film. As the film thickness increases, the effect of the surfaces decreases and the ferroelectric phase transition shifts to high temperatures to vanish altogether when the temperature region of the transition rises above the melting point.     

On the phase transition in a thin ferroelastic film

The distribution of spontaneous deformation in a thin ferroelastic film has been found on the basis of the Landau thermodynamic theory. The temperature dependences of the free energy, specific heat, and elastic compliance have been determined at different degrees of fixation of the order parameter on the film surface.     

Enhanced infrared ATR spectra of surface layers using metal films

Infrared ATR spectra of solid samples were measured with a thin metal (Ag, Ni, Pd or Pt) film, which was placed between a KRS-5 hemicylinder and the sample. Polymer films which made good optical contact with the KRS-5 or the metal film were used as samples. Enhanced spectra were obtained with the metal films, compared with the ordinary ATR spectra of the same samples. The enhancement factor was especially large for the bands ascribed to the vibrations of the surface layer or surface species. The observed spectra with the Ni film were stronger than those with the Ag film. The dependences of the intensity on the thickness of the metal film, on the angle of incidence and on the polarization of light were studied. The mechanism of the enhancement and the application of the technique to studies of surface species are discussed.     

Determining the static factor in films with a strain gradient by an x-ray diffraction method

Graphical dependences allowing the static-factor parameters to be found from the angular distance between the maxima on the reflection curve are obtained on the basis of the model of a crystal with constant strain gradient in the kinematic approximation of x-ray diffraction theory. X-ray diffraction and theoretical data for the static factor are given for film samples of the solid solution InGaP/(111)GaAs and an autoepitaxial Si/(111) film with boron diffusion.Kabardino-Balkarsk State University. Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 6, pp. 52–54, June, 1993.     

Bulk and surface contributions to the second-harmonic generation in tetra-aminodiphenyl films

The second-harmonic generation in thin (from 430 to 2330 nm) tetra-aminodiphenyl films obtained by thermal evaporation in vacuum is investigated. The dependences of the quadratic optical susceptibility on the film thickness are analyzed for several models assuming different location of nonlinear sources. The film nonlinearity is shown to have a bulk character.     

Preparation and properties of lead titanate thin ferroelectric films

A new technique is proposed for preparing lead titanate ferroelectric films. The technique involves a solid-phase reaction in an oxygen environment between titanium and lead layers deposited on a substrate. The thicknesses of the component films being deposited are chosen based on the stoichiometric ratio in the compound to be synthesized. The composition and structure of the film obtained are checked by x-ray phase analysis. The films exhibit a dielectric hysteresis loop and a temperature dependence of the permittivity characteristic of ferroelectrics. A study has been made of the temperature and thickness dependences of the film coercive field. They also are shown to follow a pattern typical of ferroelectrics.     

Ferromagnetic and Spin-Wave Resonance in the [CoFe/Cu]N Superlattice Thin (30-nm) Film

Physics of the Solid State - Angular dependences of the microwave absorption spectra of a (CoFe/Cu)N multilayer film have been studied by the ferromagnetic and spin-wave resonance techniques. The...     

Influence of the humidity on dielectric characteristics of porous aluminum oxide with inclusions of triglycine sulfate

The temperature dependences of the capacitance and conductance measured for samples of porous aluminum oxide films with inclusions of triglycine sulfate have been investigated. The character of these dependences obtained for the films treated in a humid atmosphere differs from that of the corresponding dependences measured for the initial porous Al₂O₃ matrix, bulk triglycine sulfate, and dried Al₂O₃ + triglycine sulfate composite. The observed changes are determined by the influence of the water adsorbed on the surface of the film and the water structured in pores of the composite.     

Modeling of the magnetic shape memory effect in Ni<Subscript>2</Subscript>MnGa films

The magnetic shape memory effect in Ni₂MnGa films is discussed and simulated in terms of the theory of diffuse martensitic transformations. Theoretical temperature and field dependences of the film deformation are obtained. Changes in the film shape under the action of the magnetic field and temperature are calculated.     

Effective dielectric and piezoelectric constants of thin polycrystalline ferroelectric films

The averaged dielectric, piezoelectric, and elastic constants of thin polycrystalline barium titanate and lead titanate films are calculated within a modified effective-medium approximation, which takes fully into account piezoelectric interactions between crystallites. Films with c-or a-type crystal texture resulting from mechanical interaction with the substrate are considered when the film becomes ferroelectric under cooling of the heterostructure. The dependences of the effective material constants of textured films on the residual macroscopic polarization of a film are described. An analysis is made of the effect of two-dimensional clamping of a film on a thick substrate on measurements of dielectric and piezoelectric constants. Fiz. Tverd. Tela (St. Petersburg) 40, 2206–2212 (December 1998)     

Kinetics of the growth of thin films with respect to the mechanism of formation of three-dimensional seeds on a smooth substrate

The kinetics of the development of films on a substrate is developed according to the mechanism of growth and fusion of three-dimensional hemispherical seeds arising at random instants of time at random points of sections of the substrate, not overgrown with film. Expressions are obtained for the mean thickness of the film and the dispersion of the thickness as functions of the growth time. These dependences correspond qualitatively to experiment.     

Raman spectroscopy study of lattice dynamics of macro-, micro-, and nanostructured barium titanates

The temperature dependences of the components A ₁(2TO) and E(1TO) of the soft ferroelectric mode during phase transitions in single crystals, ceramics, polycrystalline and epitaxial thin films of barium titanate, as well as a superlattice consisting of alternating layers of barium and strontium titanates, have been studied using the Raman spectroscopy method. Abrupt changes in soft mode frequencies have been observed in the single crystal during phase transitions between tetragonal, orthorhombic, and rhombohedral phases. Smoothing of the temperature dependences of soft modes and the coexistence of phases have been observed in ceramics and polycrystalline films. In the epitaxial film, the sequence of structural transformations fundamentally differs from that observed in the single crystal; in the superlattice, the ferroelectric phase is stable to 550 K.     

Evolution of the fractal surface of amorphous lead zirconate-titanate films during crystallization

The recrystallization kinetics of amorphous lead zirconate-titanate films prepared by sol-gel technology are investigated experimentally using elastic scattering of light. Sequences of elastic dependences of the scattered light intensity are recorded directly during thermal annealing. The evolution of the morphology of the film surface during annealing is described in terms of the variation of their fractal dimensionalities D _s. The experimental dependences D _s(t) are compared with the results of a computer simulation of the phase transition kinetics in a thin plate (film). Fiz. Tverd. Tela (St. Petersburg) 41, 306–309 (February 1999)