Magnetization reversal of micropattern Fe bar array: Combination of vector and Bragg magneto-optical Kerr effect measurements

We report on a magneto-optical Kerr effect (MOKE) investigation of alternating wide and narrow Fe bars, forming a two-dimensional periodic array. The magnetization reversal was studied by regular longitudinal Vector-MOKE in specular geometry as well as in Bragg-MOKE geometry, using the diffraction spots from the grating for hysteresis measurements. With Vector-MOKE a two-step switching process for the wide and narrow Fe bars is observed, indicative for a narrow switching field distribution in this array. In addition, hysteresis loops were determined as a function of the diffraction order for the hard and easy axis direction. The loops at different orders of diffraction can qualitatively and quantitatively be described by Fourier transformations of micromagnetic simulations.     

用表面磁光克尔效应实验系统测量铁磁性薄膜的磁滞回线

用自制的表面磁光克尔效应实验系统开发了研究性近代物理实验,测出铁磁性薄膜的磁滞回线,并求得克尔旋转角和克尔椭偏率.     

Complex anisotropy and magnetization reversal on stepped surfaces probed by the magneto-optical Kerr effect

So-called split hysteresis loops have been measured for ultrathin ferromagnetic films grown on stepped surfaces. Since the shape of the loops is sensitive to the direction in which the magnetic field is applied with respect to the steps, the sample orientation against the field is particularly important. We performed systematic magneto-optical Kerr effect studies for 15 and 58 ML of Fe grown on Au(1,1,13). In view of the complex magnetic anisotropy of such systems we discuss representative hysteresis loops taken at sample orientations misaligned from the field (and laser beam) direction. In particular, the presence of a so-called low field component to the hysteresis loops is discussed and its reversed polarity is explained.     

Magnetic and structural properties of Fe/Cu multilayers

Fe/Cu multilayers with Fe and Cu layers of equal thicknesses were grown by high-vacuum evaporation on Si(1 1 1) substrates at room temperature. The crystal orientation, the thickness of the elemental layers and the interplanar distances were analysed by both low- and high-angle X-ray diffraction in the θ–2θ configuration. The magnetic properties of Fe/Cu multilayers were studied by both a static and a dynamic technique, namely surface magneto-optical Kerr effect (SMOKE) and Brillouin light scattering (BLS). Longitudinal SMOKE cycles permitted us to determine the orientation of the easy axis of the magnetization and to put in evidence an appreciable in-plane magnetic anisotropy in multilayers with low periodicity and highly coherent structure. Polar loops were then used to determine the out-of-plane anisotropy fields, showing that both first- and second-order contributions are to be considered in order to reproduce the hysteresis cycle. BLS was then exploited to detect thermaly excited spin waves through inelastic scattering of light. The out-of-plane anisotropy fields evaluated by this high-frequency dynamic technique compare fairly well with the first-order values obtained by analysis of polar SMOKE hysteresis cycles.     

Study of magnetization reversal and anisotropy of single crystalline ultrathin Fe/MgO(001) film by magneto-optic Kerr effect

The magnetization reversal process of Fe/MgO(001) thin film is investigated by combining transverse and longitudinal hysteresis loops. Owing to the competition between domain wall pinning energy and weak uniaxial magnetic anisotropy,the typical magnetization reversal process of Fe ultrathin film can take place via either an "l-jump" process near the easy axis, or a "2-jump" process near the hard axis, depending on the applied field orientation. Besides, the hysteresis loop presents strong asymmetry resulting from the variation of the detected light intensity due to the quadratic magneto-optic effect. Furthermore, we modify the detectable light intensity formula and simulate the hysteresis loops of the Kerr signal. The results show that they are in good agreement with the experimental data.     

GdFeCo/TbFeCo磁超分辨磁光记录薄膜研究

用磁控溅射法制备了GdFeCo/TbFeCo交换耦合两层薄膜,利用不同温度的克尔磁滞回线和VSM磁滞回线研究了读出层(GdFeCo)变温磁化方向变化过程.结果表明,随温度升高读出层从平面磁化转变为垂直磁化,交换耦合两层薄膜具有中心孔探测磁超分辨的基本性能.转变过程主要受饱和磁化强度（M_s）的影响,在GdFeCo的补偿温度附近,读出层的磁化强度较小,退磁场能也较小,在交换耦合的作用下,使读出层(GdFeCo)的磁化方向发生转变.磁化方向的转变在75℃~125℃的温度范围内变化较快.     

Use of the kerr magnetooptical effect to study the magnetic properties of hematite single crystals

The hysteresis loops of natural single crystals of hematite have been observed on an oscilloscope by means of the Kerr magnetooptical effect. Powder patterns are shown illustrating the remagnetization. The orientation of the ferromagnetic moment is extremely sensitive to internal stresses in the crystal.     

Attempt to generalize fractional-order electric elements to complex-order ones

The complex derivative D~(α±jβ), with α, β∈ R+ is a generalization of the concept of integer derivative, where α = 1,β = 0. Fractional-order electric elements and circuits are becoming more and more attractive. In this paper, the complexorder electric elements concept is proposed for the first time, and the complex-order elements are modeled and analyzed.Some interesting phenomena are found that the real part of the order affects the phase of output signal, and the imaginary part affects the amplitude for both the complex-order capacitor and complex-order memristor. More interesting is that the complex-order capacitor can do well at the time of fitting electrochemistry impedance spectra. The complex-order memristor is also analyzed. The area inside the hysteresis loops increases with the increasing of the imaginary part of the order and decreases with the increasing of the real part. Some complex case of complex-order memristors hysteresis loops are analyzed at last, whose loop has touching points beyond the origin of the coordinate system.     

The remagnetization process in spin-valve structures

The process of magnetization reversal in ultrathin magnetic trilayer is analyzed. It is shown that the shape of magnetization hysteresis loops and the giant magnetoresistance essentially depend on the relative magnitudes of magnetic parameters of the top and the bottom layers. New types of hysteresis loops are found for characteristic relative magnitudes of the parameters. Analysis of the dependence of the shape of hysteresis loops on the magnitude of interlayer exchange is performed. The phase diagram which determines the regions of existence of characteristic hysteresis loops for different relative magnitudes of the uniaxial anisotropy constant and exchange constant J₁ is constructed.     

Tuning of magnetic properties of aluminium-doped strontium hexaferrite powders

M-type Al-doped strontium ferrite powders(Sr Alx Fe_(2n-x) O_(19), n = 5.9) with nominal Al content of x = 0–2.0 are prepared by traditional ceramic technology. The phase identification of the powders, performed using x-ray diffraction,shows the presence of purity hexaferrite structure and absence of any secondary phase. The lattice parameters decrease with increasing x. The average grain size of the powders is about 300 nm–400 nm at Al~(3+)ion content x = 0–2.0. The roomtemperature hysteresis loops of the powders, measured by using vibrating sample magnetometer, show that the specific saturation magnetization(σ_s) value continuously decreases while the coercivity(Hc) value increases with increasing x, and Hc reaches to 9759 Oe(1 Oe = 79.5775 A/m) at x = 2.0. According to the law of approach saturation, Hc value increases with increasing Al~(3+)ion content, which is attributed to the saturation magnetization(Ms) decreasing more rapidly than the magnetic anisotropy constant(K_1) obtained by numerical fitting of the hysteresis loops. The distribution of Al~(3+)ions in the hexaferrite structure of Sr Alx Fe_(2n-x) O_(19) is investigated by using 57 Co Mssbauer spectroscopy. The effect of Al~(3+)doping on static magnetic properties contributes to the improvement of magnetic anisotropy field.     

Dynamical properties of magnetization reversal in an ultrathin AuCo film

We present a dynamical study of hysteresis loops of a MoS₂/[Au/Co/Au] sandwich performed by surface magneto-optical Kerr effect with a field variation rate up to 1.2 MOe/s. An interpretation of dynamical effects at room temperature is proposed, using a modelization of the magnetization reversal. We discuss simulations which describe two different processes of the magnetization reversal to interpret the evolution of the hysteresis loops for several rates of variation of the magnetic field. For a first range of field variation rates lower than 180 kOe/s, the predominant mechanism seems to be wall motion and beyond 180 kOe/s, an expression for the magnetization is given, which supposes micro-domains reversal as a prevailing process. Finally, the general behaviour of the relaxation time, depending on the magnetic field, is investigated.     

Magnetization processes in Nd-Fe-B permanent magnets

The hysteresis loop of Nd₁₅Fe₇₇B₈ can be decomposed in hysteresis loops of two magnetic phases; one with a comparatively low coercivity and the other with a high coercivity. The volume ratio of these phases depends on the temperature and the angle between the external field and pseudo c-axis.     

Thickness-dependent coercivity of ultrathin Co films on a rough substrate: Cu-buffered Si(111)

The hysteresis loops, of Co films with thicknesses ranging from 12- to 80-monolayer-equivalent (MLE) coverages grown by thermal evaporation on a Cu-covered Si(111) surface, were measured in situ by the surface magneto-optic Kerr effect (SMOKE) technique. The hysteresis loops were measured as a function of Co coverage under an external sinusoidal magnetic field at fixed driving frequency. The coercivity H_c of the Co film versus thickness t followed a power law t⁻ⁿ with n=0.4±0.1 between 12 and 44 MLE, and stabilized after 44 MLE, up to the 80 MLE studied. The surface morphology of the 80-MLE Co film was imaged ex situ by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), revealing cauliflower-like islands that were rough both in the short and long range. Analysis of the height–height correlation function for the largest image gave measurements of the effective roughness exponent (0.8), the vertical interface width w(2500 Å), and the lateral correlation length ξ(10 000 Å). We suggest that the coercivity changed in part due to changes in roughness of the Co films, deposited on a rough substrate; the spatial roughness would create an additional surface anisotropy, contributing to a fluctuation in the domain wall energy, resulting in a roughness-dependent coercivity.     

不同易轴取向下对Nd_2Fe_(14)B/Fe_(65)Co_(35)磁性双层膜的微磁学模拟

运用三维数值模拟计算方法,计算了膜面外不同易轴取向下Nd2Fe14B/Fe65Co35磁性双层膜的磁滞回线、角度分布、成核场、矫顽力和磁能积等,并与实验结果进行了细致比较.计算结果表明:只有当易轴与外场之间的夹角β=0?时,才有明显的成核现象,其成核场和矫顽力均随着软磁相厚度Ls的增加而降低;随着易轴偏角β的增大,剩磁逐渐减小,磁滞回线的方形度降低,从而磁能积减小,在Ls=1 nm,β=0?时磁能积(561.61 kJ/m3)最大.理论计算所得的磁滞回线与实验磁滞回线符合得很好,剩磁和矫顽力的理论值与实验值相差很小.     

Argon and krypton ion-induced changes in permalloy thin films

The effects of 75-keV Ar and 100-keV Kr ion irradiations of 72-nm thin DC-sputtered permalloy (Ni₈₁Fe₁₉) films on Si(100) wafers were studied at fluences of up to 10¹⁶ ions/cm². The changes of the structural and magnetic properties were measured via X-ray diffraction, Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy, and magneto-optical Kerr effect. The irradiations increase the lattice constant and improve the crystallinity of the samples. They induce also strong changes of the magnetic polarisation and the coercive field for increasing ion fluence. The hysteresis loops suggest that, with increasing ion fluence, the reversal of the magnetisation changes gradually from rotation-dominated in the as-deposited films to domain-wall-motion dominated at the highest ion fluences. The results are compared with those obtained for Ni-, Cr-and Xe-ion irradiated permalloy films.     

Structural and magnetic properties of electrodeposited Cobalt nanowire arrays

Ordered magnetic nanowires have tremendous potential in future magnetic storage and high frequency magnetic logic devices. Here, we present the fabrication of ordered arrays of Cobalt nanowires by electrodeposition through porous polycarbonate membranes. Vertically and horizontally aligned nanowires were produced in presence of an external bias field during post deposition etching of the polycarbonate membrane. Structural and compositional analyses have been carried out to establish the material and structural purity. The magneto-optical Kerr effect was employed to measure the magnetic hysteresis loops for the nanowires assembled in the substrate plane. A good magneto-optical signal to noise ratio is observed with clean ferromagnetic hysteresis loops. The loops measured with external magnetic field applied parallel and perpendicular to the axis of the nanowires show a clear difference in the shape and the coercive field, indicating the effect of shape anisotropy in these samples. Micromagnetic simulations were performed to understand the experimental results and to obtain insight to the magnetization reversal mechanism in magnetic nanowires.     

Co/Cr/Pd多层膜的磁性和磁光特性的研究

关键词：     

矫顽力可调的多孔硅基Fe膜

采用电化学腐蚀法制备了不同多孔度的多孔硅(PS),再通过磁控溅射法在该PS衬底上沉积了一定厚度的Fe膜;并对样品进行了X射线衍射的结构分析、扫描隧道显微技术的表面形貌观察和磁光克尔效应的测量.发现在同一Fe膜厚度下，相对于参考样品硅上的Fe膜，多孔硅上Fe膜的矫顽力更大;同时观察到多孔硅基Fe膜随着PS多孔度的增加，矫顽力相应变大;而对于多孔度相同的多孔硅基样品,随着Fe膜厚度的增加矫顽力却逐步减小.得出了多孔硅特有的海绵状疏松结构能有效调节Fe膜矫顽力大小的结论. 关键词： 多孔硅 海绵状结构 Fe薄膜 矫顽力     

Element-specific magnetization reversal in Fe/Ce multilayers: : a study by X-ray magnetic circular dichroism and the magneto-optic Kerr effect

Fe/Ce multilayers are magnetically soft with coercive fields of a few Oersteds. In this artificial system, the itinerant 5d electrons of Ce are magnetically polarized by hybridization with the spin–split 3d states of Fe. To obtain an insight into the magnetization reversal process, the element selectivity of X-ray magnetic circular dichroism was used to measure the magnetization of the Ce-5d electrons as a function of an applied magnetic field. Comparison with the magnetization curves studied by the magneto-optic Kerr effect, which averages over the whole system, revealed that the coercivity in the hysteresis of the ordered Ce-5d moments is reduced by 50%. We propose that this is an effect of the magnetically disturbed interface or of the complex non-collinear magnetic structure of the Ce layers detected by recent experiments of X-ray resonant magnetic scattering. The results are compared to the X-ray dichroic and Kerr hysteresis loops of the multilayers Fe/La/Ce/La and Fe/CeH_2−δ. These systems are magnetically harder and their coercivities are identical.     

Effect of exchange coupling on magnetic property in Sm–Co/α-Fe layered system

The hysteresis loops as well as the spin distributions of Sm–Co/α-Fe bilayers have been investigated by both threedimensional(3D) and one-dimensional(1D) micromagnetic calculations, focusing on the effect of the interface exchange coupling under various soft layer thicknesses t~s. The exchange coupling coefficient Ahsbetween the hard and soft layers varies from 1.8 × 10~(-6)erg/cm to 0.45 × 10~(-6)erg/cm, while the soft layer thickness increases from 2 nm to 10 nm. As the exchange coupling decreases, the squareness of the loop gradually deteriorates, both pinning and coercive fields rise up monotonically, and the nucleation field goes down. On the other hand, an increment of the soft layer thickness leads to a significant drop of the nucleation field, the deterioration of the hysteresis loop squareness, and an increase of the remanence. The simulated loops based on the 3D and 1D methods are consistent with each other and in good agreement with the measured loops for Sm–Co/α-Fe multilayers.