Effect of Pt content on structure and magnetic properties of Fe100−xPtx films deposited on thermally oxidized Si substrates by rapid thermal annealing

Fe_100-xPt_x films with Pt contents (x) = 29–65 at.% were deposited directly onto thermally oxidized Si(100) substrate by dc magnetron sputtering. The films were then post-annealed at 700 °C for 3 min by rapid thermal annealing (RTA) at a high heating ramp rate of 100 °C/s. Experimental results show that Fe₃Pt film displayed (111) preferred orientation and tended towards in-plane magnetic anisotropy when the Pt content was 29 at.%. When the Pt content was increased to 49 at.%, the FePt film inclined towards (001)-texture and perpendicular magnetic anisotropy. Its out-of-plane coercivity (Hc_⊥), saturation magnetization (M_s) and out-of-plane squareness (S_⊥) reached 1010 kA/m, 0.47 T and 0.8, respectively. These results reveal its significant potential as perpendicular magnetic recording media for high-density recording. Upon further increasing the Pt content to 65 at.%, the coercivity of the films decreased drastically to below 65 kA/m and tended towards in-plane magnetic anisotropy.     

Effect of capped layer on microstructure and magnetic properties of FePt films

Sputter-deposited FePt films exhibit an in-plane magnetic anisotropy when MgO is used as the capped layer. The perpendicular magnetic anisotropy of FePt films can be enhanced by introducing a Ag capped layer instead of a MgO capped layer. Although the in-plane coercivity (Hc_//) of FePt films decreases slightly after introducing a Ag capped layer instead of a MgO capped layer, the perpendicular coercivity (Hc_⊥) is increased significantly from 3169 Oe to 6726 Oe. Auger electron spectroscopy analysis confirms that Ag atoms diffuse from the capped layer into the FePt magnetic layer and are mainly distributed at the grain boundary of FePt. This phenomenon results in enhancement of the grain boundary energy and inhibition of grain growth, thus increasing the perpendicular coercivity and reducing the grain size of the FePt film.     

Perpendicular magnetic anisotropy properties of CoFeB/Pd multilayers

The perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) properties of CoFeB/Pd multilayers are investigated as functions of the thickness of the constituent layers of the multilayers and of the substrate type. A relatively strong PMA is formed at small CoFeB thicknesses of 0.3 and 0.5 nm over the entire Pd thickness range of 0.47 to 1.26 nm. At a fixed CoFeB thickness, the PMA tends to increase with increasing Pd thickness and this behavior can be attributed to the fact that the interface tends to become flatter and smoother at a higher Pd thicknesss, leading to a stronger surface anisotropy. A stronger PMA is observed for the glass substrate than for the MgO substrate. Since the thermal stress formed at the CoFeB layer is tensile for both the glass and MgO substrates, the magnetoelastic interactions suggest the possibility of forming a Co-Pd alloy with a negative saturation magnetostriction at the CoFeB/Pd interfaces.     

Perpendicular Magnetic Tunnel Junctions with CoFe/Pd Multilayer Electrodes and an MgO Barrier

We studied the magnetic and magnetoresistance characteristics of pseudospin-valve magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) based on CoFe/Pd multilayer electrodes with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy and an MgO barrier. The MTJs at annealing temperature (T _a) of 473 K showed a tunnel-magnetoresistance (TMR) ratio of 1.5%. An fcc (111)-oriented texture of the bottom and top Co₉₀Fe₁₀/Pd multilayer electrodes, together with an imperfectly crystallized MgO, were revealed by cross-sectional TEM images. The TMR properties of perpendicular MTJs with a Co₂₀Fe₆₀B₂₀ or Co₅₀Fe₅₀ layer inserted between the CoFe/Pd multilayer electrodes and the MgO barrier were also studied. The TMR ratio with Co₂₀Fe₆₀B₂₀ insertion was 1.7% at T _a= 473 K and monotonically decreased at T _a over 523 K. The TMR ratio with Co₅₀Fe₅₀ insertion increased up to 3% at T _a= 573 K and then decreased to 0.4% at T _a= 598 K. The influence of the Pd layer on CoFeB was studied by using the simplified structures of Pd/CoFeB/MgO/CoFeB/Pd and Ta/CoFeB/MgO/CoFeB/Ta with inplane anisotropy. A former structure with Pd resulted in reduced TMR ratio which decreases with increasing T _a, whereas MTJs with a Ta-based structure showed a monotonic increase of a TMR ratio. The low TMR ratio observed in Pd-containing structures appears to result from crystallization of CoFeB in an unfavorable crystal orientation.     

Magnetic properties of textured CoPd nanocrystalline thin films

CoPd is an important nanomaterial for magnetic and magneto-optic storage of information. In this work, CoPd alloyed thin films are grown via radio frequency magnetron sputtering on silicon, glass and polyimide substrates in a vacuum chamber with base pressure of 5 x 10(-8) mbar. The films are nanocrystalline with grain size between 4 and 80 nm. The magnetic properties of thoroughly textured CoPd alloyed thin films are compared to random polycrystalline ones. Magnetization hysteresis loops recorded under fields up to 12 kOe via a home-made magneto-optic Kerr-effect magnetometer reveal strong tendency for perpendicular magnetic anisotropy for the textured film. This anisotropy leads to the formation of well-defined stripe or labyrinthine ferromagnetic domains with the local spins oriented perpendicular to the film plane. The domain patterns and the hysteresis loops are simulated with micromagnetic calculations. Finally, an induced magnetic moment of 0.44 microB/atom is measured for Pd via X-ray magnetic circular dichroism and it is separated into spin and orbital magnetic moment contributions.     

Structural and magnetic properties of FePd and CoPd alloy epitaxial thin films grown on MgO single-crystal substrates with different orientations

FePd and CoPd alloy thin films were prepared on MgO single-crystal substrates of (001)_B1, (110)_B1, and (111)_B1 orientations at 600 °C by ultra high vacuum rf magnetron sputtering. L1₀-FePd(001) films with the c-axis perpendicular to the substrate surface are obtained on MgO(001)_B1 substrates. FePd epitaxial films consisting of L1₀(110) and L1₀(011) crystals are formed on MgO(110)_B1 substrates. The c-axis of L1₀(110) crystal is parallel to the substrate surface, whereas that of L1₀(011) crystal is 44° canted from perpendicular direction. L1₀-FePd(111) films with the c-axis 54° canted from the perpendicular direction are formed on MgO(111)_B1 substrates. L1₀ ordering degree of these FePd films varies depending on the substrate orientation. On the other hand, disordered CoPd thin films of (001)_A1, (110)_A1, and (111)_A1 orientations epitaxially grow on MgO substrates of (001)_B1, (110)_B1, and (111)_B1 orientations, respectively. The magnetization properties of L1₀ ordered FePd and A1 disordered CoPd thin films are influenced by the crystal structure, the ordering degree, and the film orientation.     

Magnetic anisotropy control in amorphous FeCoSiB films by stress annealing

It is important to control magnetic anisotropy of ferromagnetic materials. In this work, magnetic anisotropy of amorphous FeCoSiB films is controlled by stress annealing. FeCoSiB films are deposited on glass substrate and annealed with stress in vacuum. When the annealed films are released from clamp, permanent tensile or compressive strain can be introduced in the films. Influences of both tensile and compressive strain on the magnetic properties of FeCoSiB films have been studied. The results show that FeCoSiB films by stress annealing exhibit strong magnetic anisotropy while the samples by normal annealing exhibit magnetic isotropy. Easy axis along the stress is induced in the films with tensile stress, while easy axis perpendicular to the stress is induced in the samples with compressive stress. It has also been found that the magnetic anisotropy increases with the increase of the strain. The effects of strain on the magnetic properties of FeCoSiB films have been interpreted by stress induced anisotropy via magnetoelastic coupling.     

Magnetic properties and microstructures of sputtered epitaxial Co-rich Co-Pt films

Co₃Pt films of various thicknesses were deposited on Pt underlayers by conventional sputtering in order to investigate the effects of Pt underlayers and annealing temperatures on their microstructure and the magnetic properties. XRD and HRTEM analyses reveal perpendicular magnetic anisotropy in films of good epitaxial growth of Co₃Pt (002) on the Pt (111) underlayer when annealed at 300 °C. However, Pt atoms in the Pt underlayer will diffuse seriously into the Co₃Pt layer when the annealing temperature is increased to 375 °C. This changes the compositions to approach equiatomic CoPt, and shows in-plane magnetic anisotropy with soft magnetic properties.     

Structure evolution of the biaxial alignment in sputter-deposited MgO and Cr

The growth of biaxially aligned layers, i.e. layers with both a preferential out-of-plane and an in-plane crystallographic orientation, on non-aligned metallic substrates is investigated. Unbalanced magnetron sputtering on an inclined substrate is used to deposit the layers.This method enables us to grow biaxially aligned layers for different classes of materials with different physical and chemical properties. The results for biaxially aligned MgO which is a cubic metal oxide (FCC rocksalt structure), and pure metallic chromium films (BCC) are presented.A comparison between biaxially aligned MgO and Cr concerning the microstructure and crystallographic texture is discussed. A correlation between the sputter deposition parameters on the biaxial alignment of both materials is observed. Both materials have a columnar V-shape structure with a faceted surface, corresponding to zone T of the well known structure zone model of Thornton. The MgO layers exhibit a [111] out-of-plane orientation, while Cr layers have an [100] preferential orientation. MgO as well as Cr show a strong in-plane alignment.     

Anisotropic lattice strain relaxation of MgO/SrTiO3(001) in a textured island growth mode

The out-of-plane and in-plane lattice parameters were measured by in-situ reflection high-energy electron diffraction (RHEED) at the initial growth stage of MgO thin films on SrTiO₃(001) substrates in the growth mode of islands. The in-plane lattice was found to relax immediately after initiating the film deposition, and the majority of the in-plane strain was relieved at the film thickness of 2 nm. Beyond the thickness, the in-plane lattice almost was kept unchanged, and the out-of-plane lattice continued to relax gradually. The anisotropic strain can be attributed to the change of strain energy due to film texture during the ripening process. The relationship between strain and texture, grain size was discussed from the viewpoint of energy competition.     

Domains and domain nucleation in magnetron-sputtered CoCr thinfilms

The magnetic domain configurations in magnetron-sputtered CoCr thin films have been examined by Lorentz transmission electron microscopy. The thinnest (10 nm) films display in-plane 180° domain walls, while thicker (50 nm) films exhibit out-of-plane dot-type domain structures. The dot domains were observed even in films that had not yet developed a columnar morphology. Intermediate thickness films show a featherlike contrast, indicating that both in-plane and out-of-plane magnetization components are present. Magnetization reversal is seen to occur by domain wall motion in films displaying in-plane anisotropy and by rotation for perpendicular anisotropy films. Intrinsic film stress was found to play a major role in determining the preferred magnetization direction, and thus the resulting magnetic domain configurations     

Pulsed Laser Deposition of YBa2Cu3O7 Superconducting Film on MgO Templates Spray Pyrolyzed on Hastelloy C276

Pulsed laser deposition (PLD) was used to deposit YBCO on MgO-buffered C276 substrates in order to evaluate the quality of the deposited MgO films which were deposited by spray pyrolysis. The characterization of the thin films was done using scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, electron backscattered diffraction, X-ray diffraction 2??-scans, rocking curve (??-scans), phi scan, pole-figure measurements, and AC susceptibility. It was found that c-axis oriented YBCO films were grown on c-axis oriented MgO films which confirm that the deposited YBCO films copied the out-of-plane texture of the spray pyrolyzed MgO buffer. However, MgO and YBCO films have a very weak in-plane texture. The AC susceptibility measurements show that the YBCO films have a broad superconducting transition temperature which may be attributed to the weak in-plane texture.     

Investigation of magnetic properties and microstructure of ultrathin Co films grown on Si(111)- 7 x 7 surface

Magnetic properties and growth mechanism of ultrathin Co films on Si(111)-7 x 7 surface have been studied by using both surface magneto-optic Kerr effect (SMOKE) and scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), respectively. STM results show that the growth mechanism of ultrathin Co films on Si(111)-7 x 7 surface at room temperature belongs to Stranski-Krastanov (SK) growth mode. Due to formation of CoSi2 layer, no magnetic signal could be detected by SMOKE for 1-4 ML Co deposited on Si(111) surface. Because of rougher surface, both longitudinal and perpendicular magnetic anisotropy configuration appear for 4.2-10 ML Co/Si(111) films. When the Co thickness is increased to 10 ML, only longitudinal anisotropy configuration is found, resulting from the contribution to the volume anisotropy. Furthermore, in-plane coercivity increases with Co coverage because of enhancement of ferromagnetic coupling with Co thickness, out-of-plane coercivity increases with Co coverage due to the increment of demagnetized field, induced by the rougher Co surface and pinhole structures.     

MgO/Pd底层对CoSiB/Pd多层膜垂直磁各向异性及热稳定性的影响EI北大核心CSCD

采用磁控溅射方法在玻璃基片上制备以MgO/Pd为底层的CoSiB/Pd多层膜样品,研究MgO底层厚度t对CoSiB/Pd多层膜垂直磁各向异性(perpendicular magnetic anisotropy,PMA)的影响,分析具有MgO/Pd底层的多层膜的热稳定性。通过对样品的反常霍尔效应的测试分析发现,底层中引入MgO层能够提高其PMA性能,当t为3.5 nm时,样品的矩形度最好。对最佳样品MgO(3.5 nm)/Pd(3 nm)/[CoSiB(0.5 nm)/Pd(0.8 nm)]2/Ta(2 nm)的磁滞回线进行测试,其有效磁各向异性常数K eff达到2.0×10^5 J/m^3。热稳定性分析发现,当退火温度为200℃时,样品的K eff达到最大值2.6×10^5 J/m^3;当退火温度达到400℃时,样品仍能保持良好的PMA性能。     

Stress-induced anisotropy in LPE grown Ni(Fe,Al)2O4 films

Preliminary results are reported about the growth of single crystal Ni(Fe,Al)₂O₄ films, grown by means of liquid phase epitaxy on (111)MgO and on (111)ZnGa₂O₄ substrates using a PbO-B₂O₃-Fe₂O₃ solvent. While films grown upon MgO show stress relief at the growth temperature, films grown upon ZnGa₂O₄ possess a tensile strain due to elastic deformation. Since λ₁₁₁ for NiFe₂O₄ is strongly negative a stress-induced uniaxial anisotropy is present in the films. Stripe domains can be observed with the Bitter technique and when a magnetic field is applied perpendicular to the plane of the film, magnetic bubbles with a diameter of ～2 μm appear. A bubble stability factor q exceeding unity is obtained. For the first time magnetic bubbles are found in LPE grown spinel ferrites.     

Effects of AlN layer thickness on magnetic anisotropy and transport phenomena of CoPt/AlN layered structure

The magnetic anisotropy was studied as a function of the AlN layer thickness in [AlN(x nm)/CoPt(2 nm)]5/AlN(x nm) layered structure (x is AlN layer thickness, and 5 is the number of multilayer series). The multilayered film was deposited by a sputtering apparatus equipped with two pairs of facing targets. It was found that, in the range of AlN layer thickness below 30 nm, CoPt/AlN multilayers transform from an enhanced in-plane magnetic anisotropy to perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) through thermal annealing in vacuum, with an optimized AlN thickness of 10 nm for strong PMA. However, beyond this thickness range, the PMA did not occur, and thermal annealing only results in magnetic isotropy in both parallel and perpendicular directions. The related structure analysis revealed that smooth interface and good texture of CoPt (111) make positive contributions to interface anisotropy energy and magnetocrystalline anisotropy energy for producing PMA in CoPt/AlN layered structure. In addition, the transport phenomena were also studied by using a four-probe method.     

Texture and residual stress in FeMn/Ni80Fe20 multilayers

The texture and residual stress in FeMn/Ni₈₀Fe₂₀ multilayers were studied using conventional sin²ψ method. The results show that the FeMn and Ni₈₀Fe₂₀ layers are both (111) textured. The sin²ψ plots are nonlinear, which indicates a strong residual stress gradient through the depth of the sample. Fitting of the sin²ψ plots give the residual stress in the samples. The in-plane residual stress is tensile and decreases from the surface of the sample to the substrate. The out-of-plane residual stress cannot be neglected because of the strong texture. In the two samples with the same total thickness but different periods, the FeMn layers have the same texture and residuals stress; while for Ni₈₀Fe₂₀ layer, as the thickness of each period increases, the texture becomes stronger and the residual stress becomes larger. It appears that the in-plane residual stress increases as the texture becomes stronger.     

Double Hard Axes of Hysteresis Loop in Wide-Angle Obliquely Sputtered CoFeB Amorphous Films

Soft magnetic Co₄₀Fe₄₀B₂₀ films with different tilt angle were successfully deposited on silicon substrates by using oblique sputtering technique. Different oblique angles are achieved by controlling the position of samples. The corresponding static magnetic properties of these samples were then systematically investigated. Interestingly, with the oblique angle increasing from 38° to 55°, the MOKE hysteresis loop of the thin films displays a unique and special performance with double hard axes. Meanwhile, despite of the measurement magnetic field along PR or AR direction, both of the hysteresis loops have two-stage magnetization reversal that means there are two comparably strong anisotropies in the CoFeB films. Moreover, rotating samples from in-plane to out-of-plane, the hysteresis loops demonstrate the perpendicular anisotropy exist in CoFeB films. The cross-section SEM characterizations further verify that the residual field from the magnetic cylinder will strongly impact the microstructures of thin film.     

Ion beam assisted texturing of polycrystalline Y2O3 films deposited via electron-beam evaporation

Ion-beam assisted deposition of polycrystalline Y₂O₃ films using e-beam evaporation was investigated. For growth on non-crystalline substrates, low temperature growth yields randomly oriented polycrystalline material. At elevated temperature, surface energy anisotropy yields a (111) uniaxial texture. For film deposition with irradiation from an Ar ion beam, the out-of-plane texture remained (111) in orientation. The incident Ar ion beam induces an in-plane alignment of the Y₂O₃ films that is relatively broad. A six-fold symmetry in the out-of-plane X-ray diffraction phi-scans was observed for the (111) textured Y₂O₃ films, indicating a multi-variant in-plane texture and suggesting anisotropic damage along both the (110) and (100) projections. The lack of a sharp, single variant in-plane texture with ion beam irradiation is consistent with the relatively weak bond strength in Y₂O₃.     

The effect of texture and internal stresses on the perpendicular anisotropy of vacuum evaporated ferromagnetic films

The effect of crystallographic texture and macrostresses on perpendicular anisotropy was studied. The effect of texture is shown to be considerable for materials with high magnetocrystalline anisotropy (Co, Fe). Tensile stresses can both increase and reduce perpendicular anisotropy (in materials with positive and negative magnetostriction respectively). In the films of Fe in the presence of texture [100] contribution of stresses to perpendicular anisotropy may be positive, zero or negative depending on the degree of the texture perfection.