The dynamic magnetic properties of full Heusler alloy thin films of Co2FeGe, grown on MgO (001) substrates under different thermal conditions, were investigated. Brillouin light scattering and ferromagnetic resonance measurements revealed that depositing at room temperature followed by annealing at 300 °C for 1 h produces the best results for maximizing magnetization, exchange stiffness, and minimizing spin-dynamic dissipation in the films, which are desirable characteristics for high-speed spintronic devices. Additionally, strong hybridization of spin waves in the Damon–Eshbach geometry was observed, which is attractive for applications in magnonic signal processing circuits.

The structure and magnetic properties of epitaxial Heusler alloy films (Co2FeGe) deposited on MgO (100) substrates were investigated. Films of 60 nm thickness were prepared by magnetron co-sputtering at different substrate temperatures (TS), and those deposited at room temperature were later annealed at various temperatures (Ta). X-ray diffraction confirmed (001) [110] Co2FeGe || (001) [100] MgO epitaxial growth. A slight tetragonal distortion of the film cubic structure was found in all samples due to the tensile stress induced by the mismatch of the lattice parameters between Co2FeGe and the substrate. Improved quality of epitaxy and the formation of an atomically ordered L21 structure were observed for films processed at elevated temperatures. The values of magnetization increased with increasing TS and Ta. Ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) studies revealed 45° in-plane rotation of the easy anisotropy axis direction depending on the degree of the tetragonal distortion. The film annealed at Ta = 573 K possesses the minimal FMR linewidth and magnetic damping, while both these parameters increase for another TS and Ta. Overall, this study underscores the crucial role of thermal treatment in optimizing the magnetic properties of Co2FeGe films for potential spintronic and magnonic applications.

Obtaining Heusler alloys at the nanoscale with good crystallographic features is appealing for a large range of technological applications, from biomedical to spintronics devices. In particular, Fe2CrAl as bulk is known to present magnetic properties that are strongly sensitive to chemical and physical constraints, such as structural disorder and chemical composition. We report a throughout structural, morphological, and magnetic characterization of Fe2CrAl Heusler nanoparticles obtained by pulsed laser deposition technique. The nanoparticles are composed of slightly off-stoichiometric grains with two distinct morphologies where the role of chemical disorder and inhomogeneity on the magnetic behavior was evaluated. Through DC magnetization measurements, a superparamagnetic behavior is observed and a Gilbert damping of 9×10−3 is acquired from broadband ferromagnetic resonance data, which is comparable with standard materials used for magnonics applications. We discuss the complex magnetostructural coupling that rises on the nanoparticle system, comparing these results with the stoichiometric Fe2CrAl bulk target behavior.

Thin polycrystalline Co2FeGe films with composition close to stoichiometry have been fabricated using magnetron co-sputtering technique. Effects of substrate temperature (TS) and post-deposition annealing (Ta) on structure, static and dynamic magnetic properties were systematically studied. It is shown that elevated TS (Ta) promote formation of ordered L21 crystal structure. Variation of TS (Ta) allow modification of magnetic properties in a broad range. Saturation magnetization ~920 emu/cm3 and low magnetization damping parameter α ~ 0.004 were achieved for TS = 573 K. This in combination with soft ferromagnetic properties (coercivity below 6 Oe) makes the films attractive candidates for spin-transfer torque and magnonic devices.

Discontinuous metal-insulator multilayers (DMIMs) are a special type of nanostructures with a layered arrangement of metallic particles sandwiched between continuous insulating layers. DMIMs exhibit moderate tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) ratio but enhanced low-field sensitivity, which makes them promising candidates for magnetic field sensors. Recently we have grown epitaxial Fe/MgO DMIMs on MgO (0 0 1) single crystal substrates at different deposition conditions. Here, based on the analysis of magnetic isotherms in a broad temperature range, the effect of deposition temperature (T-S) on microstructure of DMIMs is being studied and compared with the results of Transmission Electron Microscopy. It is shown that metallic layers consist of flat nanoparticles whose average size decreases, and their crystallinity improves with the increase of T-S.

Films of Co2Fe-Ge Heusler alloy with variable Ge concentration deposited on monocrystalline MgO (100) substrates by magnetron co-sputtering are investigated using microstructural, morphological, magnetometric, and magnetic resonance methods. The films were found to grow epitaxially, with island-like or continuous-layer morphology depending the Ge-content. The ferromagnetic resonance data versus out-of-plane and in-plane angle indicate the presence of easy plane and 4-fold in-plane anisotropy. The magnetometry data indicate additional weak 2-fold in-plane anisotropy and pronounced at low fields rotatable anisotropy. The observed magnetic anisotropy properties discussed in correlation with the microstructure and morphology of the films.

Cubic cobalt nitride films were grown onto different single crystalline substrates Al2O3 (0001) and (11 (2) over bar0), MgO (100) and (110) and TiO2 (100) and (110). The films display low atomic densities compared with the bulk material, are ferromagnetic and have metallic electrical conductivity. X-ray diffraction and X-ray absorption fine structure confirm the cubic structure of the films and with RBS results indicate that samples are not homogeneous at the microscopic scale, coexisting Co4+xN nitride with nitrogen rich regions. The magnetization of the films decreases with increase of the nitrogen content, variation that is shown to be due to the decrease of the cobalt density, and not to a decrease of the magnetic moment per cobalt ion. The films are crystalline with a nitrogen deficient stoichiometry and epitaxial with orientation determined by the substrate. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Experimental and theoretical studies of the evolution of the ferromagnetic resonance spectrum with film thickness for hexagonal lattice of antidots have been reported. We found three different quasi-uniform modes in the resonance spectrum. Calculations of the local dynamic susceptibility tensor show that these modes are related to the resonances from quasiuniformly magnetized regions of the hexagonal antidot array unit cell. The increase of the film thickness results in the broadening of the resonance lines as well as the appearance of additional resonance lines. Good qualitative correlation of the theory and experiment was obtained. Additional relaxation mechanisms due to magnetic inhomogeneities are also discussed.

Co–N thin films with thickness of 80nm were deposited using direct current magnetron sputtering at different N2 partial pressures (PP). The composition, structure and magnetic properties were characterized using Rutherford Backscattering Spectrometry, X-ray Diffraction, Atomic Force Microscopy and Magnetometry. The magnetic properties vary with the nitrogen content of the film, determined by the N2 PP used for deposition, and are correlated with the cobalt content of the film. The magnetic phases Co4+xN and Co3N were identified as responsible for the variation of the magnetization values.

The investigation results of the influence of non-magnetic matrix conducting properties on the magnetization process of magnetic nanogranular films are presented. Effective field in the films with conductive matrix influences the properties of the magnetic subsystem and facilitates the establishment of magnetic correlation in the ensemble of ferromagnetic granules. Polarization of the electron subsystem leads to the appearance of the exchange interaction between magnetic moments of the nearest magnetic granules. One can state about initiation of indirect exchange interaction in the case when the field of indirect exchange will exceed the value of local magnetostatic fields.

Polycrystalline (Co2Fe)(x)Ge1-x Heusler alloy films are fabricated by sputtering on amorphous substrates and shown to possess three types of magnetic anisotropy. The nearly stoichiometric composition of x = 50 m.f.% shows a rectangular hysteresis loop and isotropic coercive and ferromagnetic resonance fields when the film is field-magnetized along any in-plane direction, thus predominantly possessing rotatable in-plane magnetic anisotropy. Higher-x compositions show evidence of two-and fourfold in-plane anisotropy superposed on the rotatable one. A qualitative model of the observed anisotropic magnetic properties is proposed. The model explains the rotatable anisotropy by taking into account dry friction for the in-plane rotation of the magnetization direction in a fine-grained polycrystalline film with the magnetic grain size smaller than the correlation length of the inter-grain exchange interaction. The observed two-and fourfold magnetic anisotropy contributions are attributed to partial texturing of the fine-grained films, even though the films are grown on amorphous SiO2 substrates. These results should be valuable for understanding and controlling the magnetic behaviour of highly spin-polarized Heusler alloy films used in various magnetic nanodevices.

We report magnetic, dynamic and transport properties of discontinuous metal-insulator multilayers Fe/MgO grown on amorphous Corning glass and single-crystalline MgO (001) substrates. The films of structure Substrate/MgO (3 nm)/[Fe (0.6 nm)/MgO (3.0 nm)] x 10 were prepared in ultra-high vacuum conditions using Pulsed Laser Deposition. It was shown that conditions of epitaxial growth are favorable for MgO substrates. As a result a substantial increase of tunneling magnetoresistance caused by spin-filtering effect was observed and reasonably theoretically explained. The value of TMR - 9.2% at room temperature in 18 kOe magnetic field is three times higher comparing to that for the samples grown on Corning glass substrates.

Optical properties of ferromagnetic half-metallic full-Heusler Co$_{2}$FeGe alloy are investigated experimentally and theoretically. Co$_{2}$FeGe thin films were obtained by DC magnetron sputtering and show the saturation magnetization at $T$=10 K of $m\approx$5.6 $\mu_{B}$/f.u., close to the value predicted by the Slater-Pauling rule. First-principles calculations of the electronic structure and the dielectric tensor are performed using the full-potential linearized-augmented-plane-wave method in the generalized gradient (GGA) and GGA+U approximations. The measured interband optical conductivity spectrum for the alloy exhibits a strong absorption band in the 1 - 4 eV energy range with pronounced fine structure, which agrees well with the calculated half-metallic spectrum of the system, suggesting a near perfect spin-polarization in the material.

Resumen del trabajo presentado a la 19th International Conference on Magnetism celebrada en Korea del 8 al 13 de julio de 2012.-- et al.

Combinatorial pulsed laser deposition (PLD) makes use of the angular spread of laser-ablated material to prepare thin films with lateral compositional gradient. In this paper we have used combinatorial PLD to grow discontinuous Fe/MgO multilayers by alternate ablation from two separate Fe and MgO targets. Films of composition [Fe(t (Fe))/MgO(t (MgO))](15) were deposited on glass substrates. The thickness of Fe and MgO were varied in the vicinity of critical values determined in previous studies to maximize the tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) in the current-in-plane configuration. Optimized multilayers show a substantial improvement of both TMR and field sensitivity at room temperature.

Magnetic, resonance and transport properties of Fe(t nm)/MgO(3.0 nm) multilayers prepared by pulsed laser deposition were investigated. Comparison of the data allows conclusions on Fe layers morphology. For t<0.61 nm typical features of granular cermet films in dielectric regime are observed, i.e. high electrical resistance, isotropic magnetoresistance and strong temperature dependence of magnetization. For higher t coalescence of Fe granules occurs and metallic percolation cluster is formed at t∼0.81 nm. This is manifested by rapid decrease of films resistance and formation of multipeak ferromagnetic resonance spectra. For t>1.25 nm a continuous coverage of MgO by Fe takes place. However, the morphology of Fe layers is rough. This causes the appearance of magnetostatic resonance modes analogous to those observed for continuous films deposited on embossed surfaces.

Epitaxial discontinuous Fe/MgO multilayers have been grown by pulsed laser deposition on MgO(001) single-crystal substrates. The multilayers with 0.6 nm nominal Fe layers thickness are superparamagnetic and demonstrate tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) in the current-in-plane configuration. Increasing deposition temperature causes an improvement in crystal quality and is accompanied by higher TMR ratios. The maximum value (9.2% TMR at room temperature and 18 kOe magnetic field) trebles that of polycrystalline samples deposited simultaneously on glass substrates. A model formula for TMR ratio that includes both spin-dependent tunneling and spin-filtering effect is proposed to explain these results.

We have investigated the transport and magnetotransport properties in Fe/MgO multilayers around the Fe percolation threshold as a function of the temperature and the nominal thickness of iron layer (t). Electrical resistivity measurements allowed us to disclose the charge transport mechanisms involved, which are closely related to the degree of discontinuity in the Fe layers. The samples with Fe thickness below percolation threshold (t∼0.8 nm) exhibit isotropic magnetoresistance (MR), which can be understood considering spin-polarized electron tunneling between nanometer-sized, superparamagnetic Fe grains. The MR ratio increases with decreasing temperature from ∼3% at room temperature to ∼10% at 30 K. The temperature dependence of MR can be explained satisfactorily in terms of a modified Mitani’s model.

The evolution of the morphology, magnetic and transport properties of Fe(t nm)/MgO(3.0 nm) multilayers with respect to the nominal metallic layer thickness was investigated. A comparison with existing experimental data on discontinuous metal-insulator multilayers, ultrathin epitaxial Fe films on MgO substrates and granular cermet films is made. It is confirmed that the deposition conditions and the material composition play a crucial role in the percolation process. Nominal thicknesses of Fe layers at which an infinite metallic cluster is formed and the conditions for continuous Fe coverage were determined. Different methods of percolation threshold detection were analysed. We show that investigation of the temperature dependence of resistance in nanostructures could lead to an overestimation of the percolation threshold value, while magnetic measurements alone could lead to its underestimation.

An analytic expression is derived in the real space representation for the demagnetizing factors of long stripes and finite dots of rectangular cross section. The result depends on the arrangement in corresponding superlattices of nanoparticles. The influence of the demagnetizing factors on dynamical properties of nanoparticle arrays is discussed. (C) 2008 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.