Investigation on the structural and magnetic properties of sputtered TbFe2/Fe3Ga heterostructures

Abstract

We have analyzed the structural and magnetic properties of as-grown and annealed [TbFe 2 /Fe 3 Ga] n heterostructures grown by sputtering. Evidence of the bcc structure in the Fe 3 Ga layers has been found. The diffraction peak related to this structure shifts to high angles with the annealing temperature. Also, we have observed a change in the microstructure of the Tb-Fe layers when the thickness layer is reduced in the as-grown heterostructures. Moreover, the Tb content is lower than 33% of the TbFe 2 Laves phase and it depends on the layer thickness. The thermal treatments promote the increase of the Tb content, but only in the heterostructures with thick layers. The strong lattice mismatch between the Tb-Fe and Fe-Ga layers seems to prevent a complete Tb diffusion upon the annealing process. Thus, the crystallization of the TbFe 2 Laves phase is inhibited in the heterostructures with thin layers, although our experimental results indicate the presence of potential magnetostrictive TbFeGa alloys.

Investigation of the Out of Plane Component of the Magnetization of [Fe72Ga28(x nm)/Tb33Fe67(50 nm)]2 Multilayers

“…The x‐ray diffraction patterns show two main diffraction peaks related to the (113) reflection of the cubic structure of the Tb 33 Fe 67 and to the (110) of the α‐Fe (Figure ), in agreement with previous works . The diffraction peak for the Tb 33 Fe 67 (2 θ = 40.74°) is very close to the (110) reflection of Mo (2 θ = 40.52°).…”

“…The as‐grown heterostructures with a Fe 72 Ga 28 thickness of 25 and 50 nm show two magnetization reversals related to the presence of two magnetic materials with different H C . We can correlate the lower H C (≈90 Oe) to the Fe 72 Ga 28 layers, and the higher (≈320 Oe) to the Tb 33 Fe 67 , respectively . When the Fe‐Ga thickness is increased up to 100 nm, it is only observed a magnetization reversal around 85 Oe.…”

“…In these alloys the magnetic anisotropy is modified from in plane (IP) to PMA by means of the Tb content being even observed an influence of the type of power source used during growth on the OOP component of the magnetization . [FeGa/TbFe] n heterostructures have also been studied although the goal of those previous works was to analyze the influence of thickness and thermal treatments on the magnetostrictive properties or the coercive field (H C ) of those multilayers . Taking into account all these previous results, we propose the study of the OOP magnetization of [FeGa/TbFe] 2 multilayers in order to explore the possibility of tuning the tilt angle by means of the layer thickness which will represent an easy way to introduce these heterostructures in real magnetic devices.…”

Effect of sputtering parameters on the structure, microstructure and magnetic properties of Tb-Fe films

“…The processing of Tb-Fe thin films poses several challenges and efforts to overcome these challenges and improve the performance of Tb-Fe thin films constitute an important area of research. Of the several thin film processing techniques, sputtering has been widely used to grow Tb-Fe films to achieve the desired composition, thickness, and surface roughness [11][12][13][14][15]. Although there are several studies on understanding of magnetic properties of sputter deposited Tb-Fe films, a comprehensive study on the effect of sputtering parameters such as gas pressure and power on the magnetic properties and its correlation with structure and microstructure is still elusive.…”

“…The physics and metallurgical aspects of bulk Tb-Fe 2 have been studied thoroughly and well understood [3][4][5][6]. Numerous investigations on Tb-Fe alloys in thin film form have also been carried out and these studies have predominantly focused on improving the magnetostriction for micro-actuator applications or on achieving a strong perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) for magneto-optical recording applications [11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18]. It has been reported in literature that amorphous Tb-Fe films with Tb at.…”