Growth and martensitic transformation of ferromagnetic Co-Cr-Ga-Si epitaxial films

During cooling, conventional martensitic transformation can only be realized from austenite to martensite. Recently, a so-called reentrant martensitic transformation attracted much interest due to an additional transformation from martensite to austenite during further cooling. Obviously, materials with this reentrant transformation will increase the number of physical effects and possible applications. However, until now, only bulk samples have been available, which are not suitable for applications in micro-devices. In this work, we focus on the Co-Cr-Ga-Si system and examine the suitability of this system for the growth of thin films. We observed that the films grow epitaxially on MgO (100) substrates and exhibit a martensitic transformation if deposited at a sufficiently high temperature or with an additional heat treatment. Films within the austenite state are ferromagnetic while films within the martensitic state just exhibit a very low ferromagnetic order

Ferromagnetic interlayer coupling in CrSBr crystals irradiated by ions

Layered magnetic materials are becoming a major platform for future spin-based applications. Particularly the air-stable van der Waals compound CrSBr is attracting considerable interest due to its prominent magneto-transport and magneto-optical properties. In this work, we observe a transition from antiferromagnetic to ferromagnetic behavior in CrSBr crystals exposed to high-energy, non-magnetic ions. Already at moderate fluences, ion irradiation induces a remanent magnetization with hysteresis adapting to the easy-axis anisotropy of the pristine magnetic order up to a critical temperature of 110 K. Structure analysis of the irradiated crystals in conjunction with density functional theory calculations suggest that the displacement of constituent atoms due to collisions with ions and the formation of interstitials favors ferromagnetic order between the layers

Tunable room temperature nonlinear Hall effect from the surfaces of elementary bismuth thin films

The nonlinear Hall effect (NLHE) with time-reversal symmetry constitutes the appearance of a transverse voltage quadratic in the applied electric field. It is a second-order electronic transport phenomenon that induces frequency doubling and occurs in non-centrosymmetric crystals with large Berry curvature -- an emergent magnetic field encoding the geometric properties of electronic wavefunctions. The design of (opto)electronic devices based on the NLHE is however hindered by the fact that this nonlinear effect typically appears at low temperatures and in complex compounds characterized by Dirac or Weyl electrons. Here, we show a strong room temperature NLHE in the centrosymmetric elemental material bismuth synthesized in the form of technologically relevant polycrystalline thin films. The ($1\,1\,1$) surface electrons of this material are equipped with a Berry curvature triple that activates side jumps and skew scatterings generating nonlinear transverse currents. We also report a boost of the zero field nonlinear transverse voltage in arc-shaped bismuth stripes due to an extrinsic geometric classical counterpart of the NLHE. This electrical frequency doubling in curved geometries is then extended to optical second harmonic generation in the terahertz (THz) spectral range. The strong nonlinear electrodynamical responses of the surface states are further demonstrated by a concomitant highly efficient THz third harmonic generation which we achieve in a broad range of frequencies in Bi and Bi-based heterostructures. Combined with the possibility of growth on CMOS-compatible and mechanically flexible substrates, these results highlight the potential of Bi thin films for THz (opto)electronic applications.Comment: 44 pages, 21 figure

Flexomagnetism and vertically graded Néel temperature of antiferromagnetic Cr2O3 thin films

Antiferromagnetic insulators are a prospective materials platform for magnonics, spin superfluidity, THz spintronics, and non-volatile data storage. A magnetomechanical coupling in antiferromagnets offers vast advantages in the control and manipulation of the primary order parameter yet remains largely unexplored. Here, we discover a new member in the family of flexoeffects in thin films of Cr2O3. We demonstrate that a gradient of mechanical strain can impact the magnetic phase transition resulting in the distribution of the Néel temperature along the thickness of a 50-nm-thick film. The inhomogeneous reduction of the antiferromagnetic order parameter induces a flexomagnetic coefficient of about 15 μB nm−2. The antiferromagnetic ordering in the inhomogeneously strained films can persist up to 100 °C, rendering Cr2O3 relevant for industrial electronics applications. Strain gradient in Cr2O3 thin films enables fundamental research on magnetomechanics and thermodynamics of antiferromagnetic solitons, spin waves and artificial spin ice systems in magnetic materials with continuously graded parameters

Spin stress contribution to the lattice dynamics of FePt

Invar-behavior occurring in many magnetic materials has long been of interest to materials science. Here, we show not only invar behavior of a continuous film of FePt but also even negative thermal expansion of FePt nanograins upon equilibrium heating. Yet, both samples exhibit pronounced transient expansion upon laser heating in femtosecond x-ray diffraction experiments. We show that the granular microstructure is essential to support the contractive out-of-plane stresses originating from in-plane expansion via the Poisson effect that add to the uniaxial contractive stress driven by spin disorder. We prove the spin contribution by saturating the magnetic excitations with a first laser pulse and then detecting the purely expansive response to a second pulse. The contractive spin stress is reestablished on the same 100-ps time scale that we observe for the recovery of the ferromagnetic order. Finite-element modeling of the mechanical response of FePt nanosystems confirms the morphology dependence of the dynamics

Tuning the magneto-optical response of TbPc2 single molecule magnets by the choice of the substrate

In this work, we investigated the magneto-optical response of thin films of TbPc2 on substrates which are relevant for (spin) organic field effect transistors (SiO2) or vertical spin valves (Co) in order to explore the possibility of implementing TbPc2 in magneto-electronic devices, the functionality of which includes optical reading. The optical and magneto-optical properties of TbPc2 thin films prepared by organic molecular beam deposition (OMBD) on silicon substrates covered with native oxide were investigated by variable angle spectroscopic ellipsometry (VASE) and magneto-optical Kerr effect (MOKE) spectroscopy at room temperature. The magneto-optical activity of the TbPc2 films can be significantly enhanced by one to two orders of magnitude upon changing the molecular orientation (from nearly standing molecules on SiO2/Si substrates to nearly lying molecules on perylene-3,4,9,10-tetracarboxylic dianhydride (PTCDA) templated SiO2/Si substrates) or by using metallic ferromagnetic substrates (Co)

Perpendicular Magnetic Anisotropy Thin Films and Nanostructures for Future Recording Media Applications

The increasing demand for nearline storage capacity in data centers calls for a continued enhancement in hard disk drive recording density far beyond one terabit per square inch. The thermal stability limit forces the drive manufacturers to develop new concepts in order to achieve this in the long term. Potential solutions are microwave-assisted magnetic recording (MAMR), heat-assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) and bit-patterned media (BPM). A simple example of BPM based on sputter-deposited Co/Pd multilayers and prepatterned substrates at hypothetical recording densities up to one terabit per square inch was studied by magnetic force microscopy (MFM). This system achieved promising results at lower densities, but an actual application for data storage, especially at one terabit per square inch and higher densities, requires elaborate optimizations. For some time now, FePt thin films have attracted much attention as prospective recording layers for high-density magnetic data storage due to their high magnetic anisotropy. The use of FePt films in HAMR is especially promising. This application has been tested successfully by Seagate and its key customers in recent years and is about to be introduced into the nearline hard disk drive market. It requires a tuning of the magnetic properties of FePt, especially of its Curie temperature. The addition of Cu proved to be effective in this regard and can also facilitate the formation of the crucial L10 structure and (001) texture during rapid thermal annealing of sputter-deposited thin films. Such films were prepared as bilayers of Cu and FePt on Si substrates, annealed for 30 s, and analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and SQUID vibrating sample magnetometry (SQUID-VSM). The influence of large Cu additions on important properties like lattice parameters, mosaicity, magnetic anisotropy and Curie temperature is discussed. The chemical long-range order was calculated from the XRD data, and a dedicated chapter of this thesis covers the most important factors to be considered in such calculations for textured thin films and other samples. The feasibility of creating patterned Fe-Cu-Pt films with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy, as needed for a combination of HAMR and BPM, by deposition through a PMMA mask, a lift-off process and subsequent annealing was investigated as well. The results indicate that the chosen approach might not lead to the required (001) texture when the nanostructures are small enough to compete with today's recording densities, so that either a continuous film might need to be etched after annealing or a seed layer might be required to induce the texture.:1. Motivation: Magnetic Data Storage 2. Experimental Techniques 3. Co/Pd Multilayers on Prepatterned Substrates 4. Fe-Pt and Fe-Cu-Pt Alloys 5. Rapid Thermal Annealing of FePt and FePt/Cu Films 6. Order Parameter Calculation 7. Summar

Perpendicular Magnetic Anisotropy Thin Films and Nanostructures for Future Recording Media Applications

The increasing demand for nearline storage capacity in data centers calls for a continued enhancement in hard disk drive recording density far beyond one terabit per square inch. The thermal stability limit forces the drive manufacturers to develop new concepts in order to achieve this in the long term. Potential solutions are microwave-assisted magnetic recording (MAMR), heat-assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) and bit-patterned media (BPM). A simple example of BPM based on sputter-deposited Co/Pd multilayers and prepatterned substrates at hypothetical recording densities up to one terabit per square inch was studied by magnetic force microscopy (MFM). This system achieved promising results at lower densities, but an actual application for data storage, especially at one terabit per square inch and higher densities, requires elaborate optimizations. For some time now, FePt thin films have attracted much attention as prospective recording layers for high-density magnetic data storage due to their high magnetic anisotropy. The use of FePt films in HAMR is especially promising. This application has been tested successfully by Seagate and its key customers in recent years and is about to be introduced into the nearline hard disk drive market. It requires a tuning of the magnetic properties of FePt, especially of its Curie temperature. The addition of Cu proved to be effective in this regard and can also facilitate the formation of the crucial L10 structure and (001) texture during rapid thermal annealing of sputter-deposited thin films. Such films were prepared as bilayers of Cu and FePt on Si substrates, annealed for 30 s, and analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and SQUID vibrating sample magnetometry (SQUID-VSM). The influence of large Cu additions on important properties like lattice parameters, mosaicity, magnetic anisotropy and Curie temperature is discussed. The chemical long-range order was calculated from the XRD data, and a dedicated chapter of this thesis covers the most important factors to be considered in such calculations for textured thin films and other samples. The feasibility of creating patterned Fe-Cu-Pt films with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy, as needed for a combination of HAMR and BPM, by deposition through a PMMA mask, a lift-off process and subsequent annealing was investigated as well. The results indicate that the chosen approach might not lead to the required (001) texture when the nanostructures are small enough to compete with today's recording densities, so that either a continuous film might need to be etched after annealing or a seed layer might be required to induce the texture.:1. Motivation: Magnetic Data Storage 2. Experimental Techniques 3. Co/Pd Multilayers on Prepatterned Substrates 4. Fe-Pt and Fe-Cu-Pt Alloys 5. Rapid Thermal Annealing of FePt and FePt/Cu Films 6. Order Parameter Calculation 7. Summar

Perpendicular Magnetic Anisotropy Thin Films and Nanostructures for Future Recording Media Applications

The increasing demand for nearline storage capacity in data centers calls for a continued enhancement in hard disk drive recording density far beyond one terabit per square inch. The thermal stability limit forces the drive manufacturers to develop new concepts in order to achieve this in the long term. Potential solutions are microwave-assisted magnetic recording (MAMR), heat-assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) and bit-patterned media (BPM). A simple example of BPM based on sputter-deposited Co/Pd multilayers and prepatterned substrates at hypothetical recording densities up to one terabit per square inch was studied by magnetic force microscopy (MFM). This system achieved promising results at lower densities, but an actual application for data storage, especially at one terabit per square inch and higher densities, requires elaborate optimizations. For some time now, FePt thin films have attracted much attention as prospective recording layers for high-density magnetic data storage due to their high magnetic anisotropy. The use of FePt films in HAMR is especially promising. This application has been tested successfully by Seagate and its key customers in recent years and is about to be introduced into the nearline hard disk drive market. It requires a tuning of the magnetic properties of FePt, especially of its Curie temperature. The addition of Cu proved to be effective in this regard and can also facilitate the formation of the crucial L10 structure and (001) texture during rapid thermal annealing of sputter-deposited thin films. Such films were prepared as bilayers of Cu and FePt on Si substrates, annealed for 30 s, and analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and SQUID vibrating sample magnetometry (SQUID-VSM). The influence of large Cu additions on important properties like lattice parameters, mosaicity, magnetic anisotropy and Curie temperature is discussed. The chemical long-range order was calculated from the XRD data, and a dedicated chapter of this thesis covers the most important factors to be considered in such calculations for textured thin films and other samples. The feasibility of creating patterned Fe-Cu-Pt films with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy, as needed for a combination of HAMR and BPM, by deposition through a PMMA mask, a lift-off process and subsequent annealing was investigated as well. The results indicate that the chosen approach might not lead to the required (001) texture when the nanostructures are small enough to compete with today's recording densities, so that either a continuous film might need to be etched after annealing or a seed layer might be required to induce the texture.:1. Motivation: Magnetic Data Storage 2. Experimental Techniques 3. Co/Pd Multilayers on Prepatterned Substrates 4. Fe-Pt and Fe-Cu-Pt Alloys 5. Rapid Thermal Annealing of FePt and FePt/Cu Films 6. Order Parameter Calculation 7. Summar