Microstructure and properties of Co-Sm-O nanogranular films

The effect of annealing on the structure and physical properties of Co-Sm-O alloy films prepared using pulsed plasma deposition is investigated. It is found that Co-Sm-O films in the initial state possess superparamagnetic properties due to the presence of small-sized magnetic nanoparticles surrounded by dielectric layers of samarium oxide in the film structure. Upon annealing, the Co-Sm-O films undergo structural transformations and exhibit a number of magnetic properties (including those inherent in both soft and hard magnetic materials).     

Faraday effect in nanogranular Co-Sm-O films

The Faraday effect (FE) was studied in Co-Sm-O composite films consisting of nanoparticles of metallic cobalt embedded in a samarium oxide dielectric matrix. The volume of the magnetic phase was ～60%. The FE spectral dependence for the condensates studied revealed a substantial change as compared to that for bulk cobalt samples, as well as for the films of nanocrystalline Co and CoSm films prepared in this study. An enhancement of the FE was also observed in the short-wavelength part of the optical spectrum.     

Synthesis and magneto-optical properties of nanogranular Co-Ti-O films

Studies of the structural and magneto-optical properties of nanogranular Co-Ti-O films prepared under conditions of the solid-state reaction with oxygen exchange in the CoO/Ti layered structures are presented. The formation of granular films with compositions near or below the percolation threshold is shown. The specific features of the magneto-optical spectra of the prepared films as compared to the spectra of continuous metallic films are revealed.     

Tailoring the structural and magnetic properties of sol-gel derived Sm-Co nanogranular films

In this study, we investigated the microstructure, phase evolution and magnetic properties of nanogranular films of Sm-Co compounds processed by the sol-gel method. By controlling the compositional ratio of Sm:Co precursor concentration, nanogranular films consisting of three distinct hard magnetic phases namely, Sm₂Co₇, SmCo₅ and Sm₂Co₁₇ with coercivity values of 1.78, 2.94 and 2.12 kOe, respectively, were obtained through this technique.     

Structure and magneto-optical properties of fine-grain garnet thin films

The structure and magneto-optical properties of fine-grain garnet thin films crystallized by the rapid recurrent thermal annealing (RRTA) method have been studied. The RRAT method has been used to crystallize BiGaDyIG garnet single-layer or BiGaDyIG/AI double-layer films and to get nanometer grain size (about 30–50 nm), which results in a large Faraday rotation angle, a smoother surface and fewer voids in the films. Meanwhile we have discovered that the Faraday rotation angle increases with the number of recurrences during the rapid annealing and quenching. With the more recurrent annealing one can not only get a strong Faraday effect, but it suppresses the appearance of DyFeO₃ phase in garnet films, which has been explained very well. By applying the new method, the as-deposited films have been succesfully crystallized to the (BiDy)₃(FeGa)₅O₁₂ garnet phase. They exhibited excellent magneto-optical properties with a coercivity of about 1500 Oe and effective Faraday rotation angle of 1.5°. The composition, magnetic and magneto-optical properties of the crystallized garnet films have been examined.     

高电阻率多层纳米颗粒膜软磁特性及微波磁导率

研究了应用于微波频段的多层纳米颗粒膜的电阻率、软磁特性和微波磁导率.采用多次顺序沉积Co₄₀Fe₄₀B₂₀和SiO₂薄层制备了薄膜.在100kA/m均匀面内磁场经过250℃真空退火2h,制备的Co₄₀Fe₄₀B₂₀/SiO₂多层膜具有难轴矫顽力为210A/m、饱和磁化强度为838.75kA/m、电阻率为2.06×10^{3关键词： 纳米颗粒膜 电阻率 软磁特性 微波磁导率}     

Structure and magnetic properties of FeCoN films

We obtained crystals of RuS₂ doped with ⁵⁷Fe from a Bi melt and determined the EPR hyperfine structure corresponding to ⁵⁷Fe³⁺ in low-spin configuration. In crystals that were doped with both Fe and Cr an increase of the Fe³⁺ resonance and a simultaneous decrease of the Cr³⁺ resonance occurred by IR irradiation and revealed the same wavelength dependence. Compared with as-grown crystals the iron-doped crystals turned out to have a rather high electrical resistivity of about 10⁴Omega cm at room temperature. For these iron-doped crystals two different activation energies of 0.04 eV and 0.35 eV of the free charge carriers (electrons) were determined from measurements of the electrical conductivity in the range of 94 K and 294 K. Received: 29 July 1996/Accepted: 13 November 1996     

Spintronics in metal–insulator nanogranular magnetic thin films

Magnetic and electrical properties of metal–insulator nanogranular thin films are overviewed, from the spintronics point of view, by presenting our recent results. (1) The metal-rich ferromagnetic ones possess ultrahigh-frequency (MHz–GHz) permeabilities μ′, μ″, mainly owing to large induced magnetic anisotropy field H_k. They are useful for various magnetic devices, such as thin-film inductors and noise suppressors. (2) The insulator-rich superpramagnetic ones exhibit tunnel-type magnetoresistance, being large in (Mg or Al)-fluoride base films. The Granular-In-Gap (GIG) devices with improved field sensitivity are useful for very low magnetic-field sensors.     

Structural and magnetic properties of electrospun FeCoNi magnetic nanofibers with nanogranular phases

Structural and magnetic properties of silicon/aluminum-added and -free FeCoNi magnetic alloy nanofibers with nanogranular phases prepared by electrospinning and subsequent annealing of the PVP-blended ternary metal precursors in hydrogen atmosphere were investigated. The FeCoNi magnetic alloy nanofibers with evenly distributed nanocrystalline phases were formed, which are identified as γ-Fe_1−x Ni _x binary phase with face-centered cubic structure and α-CoFe phase with body-centered cubic structure. At elevated temperature, the α → γ structural martensitic transformation in the FeCoNi ternary alloys occurred due to the inhomogeneities in composition of the matrix during annealing of the alloy with metastable α-phase. In the Si/Al-added FeCoNi nanofibers, more than two phases with complicated-boundaries of the grains in and/or outside the nanofibers were formed as crystalline phases and amorphous phase. The amorphous phase consisted of Si and/or Al acted as an inhibitor diminishing α → γ transformation as well as an interparticle insulation layer. At low annealing temperature of 450 °C, the Si/Al-added nanofiber mainly consisted of metastable α-phase with a low-crystallinity surface structure and very small diameter of 13 nm was formed and showed an unexpectedly high coercivity, which attributed to the surface effects and/or high surface/volume ratio.     

Magnetic and magneto-optical properties of FeRh thin films

The magnetic and magneto-optical properties of FeRh thin films epitaxially deposited onto MgO(1 0 0) substrates by RF sputter-deposition system have been investigated in conjunction with the structure. An intriguing virgin effect has been found in the M–T curves of the as-deposited FeRh thin films, which is presumably interpreted in term of a change in structural phase when heating. Also, a (negative) maximum peak of Kerr rotation at around 3.8 eV has been observed when FeRh thin films are in ferromagnetic state. The polar Kerr rotation angle is found to increase at temperatures above 100 °C, which corresponds to the antiferromagnet (AF)–ferromagnet (FM) transition of FeRh thin films.     

Nongyrotropic magneto-optical effects in metal-insulator magnetic multilayer thin films

Nongyrotropic magneto-optical effects are investigated in metal-insulator magnetic multilayer thin films. These effects manifest themselves in changes in the coefficients of transmission and reflection of electromagnetic radiation from the surface of a multilayer film due to the crossover of the magnetic structure from an antiferromagnetic configuration to a ferromagnetic configuration. The nongyrotropic magneto-optical effect observed in reflected light is analyzed theoretically. It is assumed that the multilayer structure is exposed to radiation of a monochromatic plane wave polarized along the direction of magnetization of the film. The magneto-optical effect is described in terms of the permittivity tensor of the multilayer medium, which depends only on the light frequency. The Boltzmann kinetic equation is treated with allowance made for spin-dependent electron scattering both inside conducting layers and at rough interfaces. Using an Fe/C multilayer as an example, it is demonstrated that the nongyrotropic magneto-optical effect is equal in order of magnitude to the equatorial Kerr effect or other strong magneto-optical effects.     

Application of longitudinal generalized magneto-optical ellipsometry in magnetic ultrathin films

The longitudinal generalized magneto-optical ellipsometry(GME) method is extended to the measurement of threelayer ultrathin magnetic films. In this work, the theory of the reflection matrix is introduced into the GME measurement to obtain the reflective matrix parameters of ultrathin multilayer magnetic films with different thicknesses. After that, a spectroscopic ellipsometry is used to determine the optical parameter and the thickness of every layer of these samples, then the magneto-optical coupling constant of the multilayer magnetic ultrathin film can be obtained. After measurements of a series of ultrathin Fe films, the results show that the magneto-optical coupling constant Q is independent of the thickness of the magnetic film. The magneto-optical Kerr rotations and ellipticity are measured to confirm the validity of this experiment. Combined with the optical constants and the Q constant, the Kerr rotations and ellipticity are calculated in theory. The results show that the theoretical curve fits very well with the experimental data.     

Structure and magnetic properties of Fe/Cu multilayered films

Mutually insoluble Fe/Cu multilayered films prepared by a dc-magnetron sputtering system with a rotating substrate-holder have been studied. The periodicity of the multilayers was confirmed by X-ray diffraction. The results of magnetization measurements and Mössbauer spectroscopy at 300 and 77 K show that the samples with the Fe layer thinner than 9 Å exhibit superparamagnetism. The temperature dependence of the spontaneous magnetization follows Bloch's law for all samples, with the spin-wave temperature coefficient B inversely proportional to the thickness of the Fe layer. The results of torque measurements show that the magnetization is normal to the film plane for the samples with the Fe layer thinner than 6 Å.     

Structure and magnetic properties of Co-CoO films with layered structure

Co-CoO multi-layered films were prepared using the rf sputtering method by modulating the substrate bias voltage. The multi-layered film with 80 Å modulation period had an extremely low-in-plane coercivity and multi-domain structure of the in-plane magnetization with random direction. The films with 220 and 60 Å modulation period show maze domains.     

Optical and magneto-optical properties of Co/Pt multilayered films

Both experimental and computer-simulated magneto-optical (MO) and optical spectroscopies of Co/Pt multilayered films (MLF) with a nearly constant Pt sublayer thickness and variable Co sublayer thickness, as well as pure Co and Pt, and Co_0.51Pt_0.49 alloy films, have been performed in the energy range 1.1–4.7 eV. The simulations were achieved by solving the multireflection task for various models of the MLF. The comparison between experimental and computer-simulated optical properties of the Co/Pt MLF allowed us to evaluate the thickness of the interfacial regions with the alloyed components. The diagonal and off-diagonal components of the optical conductivity tensor were calculated not only for the pure Co and Co_0.51Pt_0.49 alloy films, and the whole Co/Pt MLF, but also for the spin-polarized Pt layers in the Co/Pt MLF.     

Magnetic and magneto-optical properties of MnSb films on various substrates

Magnetic and magneto-optical properties of MnSb films with different crystalline orientations on various semiconductors of GaAs(1 0 0), GaAs(1 1 1)A, B, and sapphire(0 0 0 1) have been measured by a vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) and a home-made magneto-optical Kerr effect (MOKE) system. All these samples have their easy axes in the plane and show ferromagnetic properties. Among these samples, the film on GaAs(1 1 1)B has the lowest coercive force H_c and the largest squareness (SQ) value, whereas the film on GaAs(1 0 0) shows the largest H_c and the lowest SQ value. A large Kerr rotation angle of about 0.3° was observed at a wavelength of λ=632.8 nm for the film on sapphire in the field applied both parallel and perpendicular to the film plane. However, the MnSn films on other substrates do not have an observable Kerr rotation. The dynamic effect of the hysteresis was also measured using our MOKE system. As the frequency of applied magnetic field increases, the loop rounds off at the corners and the loop area increases.     

Exploring magnetic properties of ultrathin epitaxial magnetic structures using magneto-optical techniques

We describe magneto-optic Kerr effect studies of ultrathin Fe and Ni films on single crystal surfaces of Ag and Cu. Monolayer Fe films on Ag(100) exhibit the theoretically predicted spin-orbit anisotropy, but also yield some interesting discrepancies between behavior predicted by Kerr effect and by spin-polarized photoemission experiments. Layer-dependent studies of the magnetic moment of Ni on Ag(111) and Ag(100) suggest sp-d hybridization effects quench the first layer magnetic moment on Ag(111) but not on Ag(100). Temperature dependent studies of thin film magnetization obtained from Kerr effect measurements yield thickness dependent Curie temperatures, and critical exponents for several thin film systems.     

Magnetization-induced third harmonic generation in magnetic nanogranular films: Correlation with giant magnetoresistance

Magnetization-induced third harmonic (TH) generation was observed in magnetic nanostructures—nanogranular Co_xAg_{1? x} films—possessing giant magnetoresistance (GMR). The magnetization-induced contribution to the TH intensity was studied as a function of the concentration of a magnetic component (cobalt) in the films. Magnetic contrast of the TH intensity was found to correlate with the GMR coefficient: both parameters simultaneously reach extremum in the range of cobalt concentrations x～0.3–0.35.     

Study of optical and magneto-optical properties of CoFe–HfO2 granular magnetic films

Granular films of composition (CoFe)_x(HfO₂)_1−x with continuous variation of the Co_0.5Fe_0.5 volume fraction in the range 0.1<x<0.9 have been prepared by e-beam co-evaporation. The optical properties of the thin granular composite films have been determined from transmission and reflection spectra in the 300–1100 nm region. The optical characteristics of the granular films as a function of x were also determined by the ellipsometrical method at λ=632.8 nm. We find that the transmission and reflection spectra and the dielectrical function have anomalies near the percolation threshold at x_p≈0.45. The Faraday rotation in the films was determined at λ=632.8 nm. The spectral dispersion of Faraday effects have peak in the region of the plasmon frequency. The Faraday effect is greatly enhanced near x_p. The calculated optical and magneto-optical parameters, described in the framework of the effective medium approximation, are in qualitative agreement with experimental data.