Out of plane component of the magnetization of sputtered Fe72Ga28 layers

Abstract

In this paper we present an investigation about the out of plane component of the magnetization of Ga-rich sputtered FeGa thin films. To study this magnetic component, we have used magnetometric measurements and magnetic force microscopy combined with a structural characterization by means of x-ray diffractometry. For a more profound analysis, we have examined samples in both, as-grown and annealed state. The out of plane component of the magnetization promotes a magnetic ripple observed by magnetic force microscopy in all the studied samples. To quantitatively monitor the out of plane component of the magnetization, we have used the ratio between the magnetic remanence and the maximum magnetization (Mr/Mmax), i.e. the squareness, measured in the perpendicular hysteresis loops. The experimental results indicate that the out of plane component of the magnetization is reduced upon annealing at a moderate temperature of 400 C. The experimental results can be understood considering that phase coexistence is the most likely origin for the observed magnetic ripple.

Interfacial coupling effect of Cr2O3 on the magnetic properties of Fe72Ga28 thin films

“…When Fe 72 Ga 28 is no coupled (Fig. 3a), it is observed the magnetic contrast known as magnetic ripple in agreement with previous works [24][25][26]. However, due to the interfacial coupling with Cr 2 O 3 , the OOP component of the magnetization of Fe 72 Ga 28 is enhanced, and stripe domains start to be visible in the MFM images (Fig.…”

“…Also interesting is the possibility in sputtered Fe 72 Ga 28 layers of controlling the in-plane magnetic anisotropy by growth conditions [17][18][19] or by thermal treatments combined with mechanical stress [20]. Molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) FeGa can exhibit domain stripes due to a low PMA [21][22][23], but the general behavior observed by MFM in FeGa deposited either by electrodeposition [24], sputtering [25] or even MBE [26] is a magnetic ripple due to magnetic uctuations with the magnetization almost in the sample plane.…”

Interfacial coupling effect of Cr2O3 on the magnetic properties of Fe72Ga28 thin films

“…However, it is important to remark that we have obtained that interfacial energy using polycrystalline Cr 2 O 3 , not a fully c -oriented Cr 2 O 3 with all the magnetic moments aligned in the perpendicular direction. Nevertheless, our experimental results point out that even in this situation, it is possible to gradually turn the Fe 72 Ga 28 magnetization into the out of plane direction due to the combination of Cr 2 O 3 with Fe 72 Ga 28 that has a magnetic fluctuation that promotes magnetic ripple in the uncoupled layers 25 . Therefore, these results show the possibility of using polycrystalline layers for further applications such as tailoring of the magnetization direction.…”

“…Also interesting is the possibility in sputtered Fe 72 Ga 28 layers of controlling the in-plane magnetic anisotropy by growth conditions 17 – 19 or by thermal treatments combined with mechanical stress 20 . Molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) FeGa can exhibit domain stripes due to a low PMA 21 – 23 , but the general behavior observed by magnetic force microscopy (MFM) in FeGa deposited either by electrodeposition 24 , sputtering 25 or even MBE 26 is a magnetic ripple due to magnetic fluctuations in layers with magnetization in the sample plane.…”

Electrodeposition of Hybrid Magnetostrictive/Magnetoelectric Layered Systems

“…Stripes observed by MFM are a result of the presence of phases with a moderate PMA. Stripes have been previously reported in Fe 3 O 4 [ 39 , 40 ], whereas FeGa generally presents a magnetic contrast known as ripple [ 33 , 41 , 42 ], and to the best of our knowledge, there are no published works about stripes in Fe 2 O 3 or GFO. Since magnetic stripes are present in the samples with the highest proportion of Fe 3 O 4 , they can be used to track Fe 3 O 4 segregation ( Table 2 ).…”