Tailoring Properties of Materials at the Nanoscale

The knowledge of growth and characterizing techniques is essential for the preparation of high quality thin films and multilayers. Here, structural properties have been investigated by X-ray reflectivity, X-ray diffraction, and transmission electron microscopy while the composition was determined by Rutherford backscattering spectrometry. For the magnetic studies, magneto-optical Kerr effect and X-ray magnetic circular dichroism have been used. The structural properties of the metal/insulator multilayer system, Fe/MgO, have been investigated. The coherency of the layers was influenced by the difference of the atomic distance in the Fe and MgO layers, resulting in long range strain fields. As a consequence, the coherency between the layers is not maintained. The atomic steps can not exist in amorphous materials, due to the absence of well defined atomic distances. Furthermore, the magnetic properties of amorphous materials allow a tuning of magnetic properties such as magnetic anisotropy and ordering temperature. The possibility to imprint arbitrary magnetic anisotropy in nanolaminated magnetic amorphous Co68Fe24Zr8 was demonstrated. The ratio of the orbital to spin moments for both Fe and Co was determined, for both thick and thin layers embedded in amorphous Al70Zr30 layers. When growing Co68Fe24Zr8 /Al2O3 the layers exhibit large changes in layer quality with thickness of the layers, ultimately affecting the magnetic properties of the stack. The use of protective layers is of large importance when performing ex-situ measurements. Most of the materials used were capped by Al2O3, effectively hindering both the reaction with oxygen and water. The penetration of hydrogen through different thicknesses of alumina was investigated. The experiments confirmed high degree of passivation as well as the possibility to selectively diffuse hydrogen through these layers. The use of element specific diffusion barriers allows the tailoring of magnetic properties of magnetic thin films and multilayers

Tailoring Properties of Materials at the Nanoscale

The knowledge of growth and characterizing techniques is essential for the preparation of high quality thin films and multilayers. Here, structural properties have been investigated by X-ray reflectivity, X-ray diffraction, and transmission electron microscopy while the composition was determined by Rutherford backscattering spectrometry. For the magnetic studies, magneto-optical Kerr effect and X-ray magnetic circular dichroism have been used. The structural properties of the metal/insulator multilayer system, Fe/MgO, have been investigated. The coherency of the layers was influenced by the difference of the atomic distance in the Fe and MgO layers, resulting in long range strain fields. As a consequence, the coherency between the layers is not maintained. The atomic steps can not exist in amorphous materials, due to the absence of well defined atomic distances. Furthermore, the magnetic properties of amorphous materials allow a tuning of magnetic properties such as magnetic anisotropy and ordering temperature. The possibility to imprint arbitrary magnetic anisotropy in nanolaminated magnetic amorphous Co68Fe24Zr8 was demonstrated. The ratio of the orbital to spin moments for both Fe and Co was determined, for both thick and thin layers embedded in amorphous Al70Zr30 layers. When growing Co68Fe24Zr8 /Al2O3 the layers exhibit large changes in layer quality with thickness of the layers, ultimately affecting the magnetic properties of the stack. The use of protective layers is of large importance when performing ex-situ measurements. Most of the materials used were capped by Al2O3, effectively hindering both the reaction with oxygen and water. The penetration of hydrogen through different thicknesses of alumina was investigated. The experiments confirmed high degree of passivation as well as the possibility to selectively diffuse hydrogen through these layers. The use of element specific diffusion barriers allows the tailoring of magnetic properties of magnetic thin films and multilayers

Tailoring Properties of Materials at the Nanoscale

The knowledge of growth and characterizing techniques is essential for the preparation of high quality thin films and multilayers. Here, structural properties have been investigated by X-ray reflectivity, X-ray diffraction, and transmission electron microscopy while the composition was determined by Rutherford backscattering spectrometry. For the magnetic studies, magneto-optical Kerr effect and X-ray magnetic circular dichroism have been used. The structural properties of the metal/insulator multilayer system, Fe/MgO, have been investigated. The coherency of the layers was influenced by the difference of the atomic distance in the Fe and MgO layers, resulting in long range strain fields. As a consequence, the coherency between the layers is not maintained. The atomic steps can not exist in amorphous materials, due to the absence of well defined atomic distances. Furthermore, the magnetic properties of amorphous materials allow a tuning of magnetic properties such as magnetic anisotropy and ordering temperature. The possibility to imprint arbitrary magnetic anisotropy in nanolaminated magnetic amorphous Co68Fe24Zr8 was demonstrated. The ratio of the orbital to spin moments for both Fe and Co was determined, for both thick and thin layers embedded in amorphous Al70Zr30 layers. When growing Co68Fe24Zr8 /Al2O3 the layers exhibit large changes in layer quality with thickness of the layers, ultimately affecting the magnetic properties of the stack. The use of protective layers is of large importance when performing ex-situ measurements. Most of the materials used were capped by Al2O3, effectively hindering both the reaction with oxygen and water. The penetration of hydrogen through different thicknesses of alumina was investigated. The experiments confirmed high degree of passivation as well as the possibility to selectively diffuse hydrogen through these layers. The use of element specific diffusion barriers allows the tailoring of magnetic properties of magnetic thin films and multilayers

Structural and magnetic properties of Co68Fe24Zr8/Al2O3 multilayers

The structural and magnetic properties of Co68Fe24Zr8/Al2O3 multilayers grown by using magnetron Sputtering were investigated with X-ray reflectivity, transmission electron microscopy and magnetooptical Kerr effect. The Co68Fe24Zr8 form amorphous islands when the nominal thickness of the Co68Fe24Zr8 layers is 10 angstrom, exhibiting an isotropic superparamagnetic behavior. Continuous layers with mostly a nano-crystalline structure are instead formed when the nominal thickness of the Co68Fe24Zr8 layers is increased to 20 angstrom. The continuous layers exhibit random, in-plane, magnetic anisotropy resulting from the growth Process. However, induced uniaxial anisotropy is obtained when growing the sample in the presence of an applied magnetic field, regardless of the combination of amorphous and nano-crystalline material

Structural and magnetic properties of Co68Fe24Zr8/Al2O3 multilayers

The structural and magnetic properties of Co68Fe24Zr8/Al2O3 multilayers grown by using magnetron Sputtering were investigated with X-ray reflectivity, transmission electron microscopy and magnetooptical Kerr effect. The Co68Fe24Zr8 form amorphous islands when the nominal thickness of the Co68Fe24Zr8 layers is 10 angstrom, exhibiting an isotropic superparamagnetic behavior. Continuous layers with mostly a nano-crystalline structure are instead formed when the nominal thickness of the Co68Fe24Zr8 layers is increased to 20 angstrom. The continuous layers exhibit random, in-plane, magnetic anisotropy resulting from the growth Process. However, induced uniaxial anisotropy is obtained when growing the sample in the presence of an applied magnetic field, regardless of the combination of amorphous and nano-crystalline material

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Spin and orbital moment in amorphous Co68Fe24Zr8 layers

The ratio of the orbital to the spin magnetic moment was determined for both Fe and Co in amorphous Co68Fe24Zr8 layers using x-ray circular dichroism. The investigations were performed on both thick Co68Fe24Zr8 layers as well as on amorphous Co68Fe24Zr8/Al70Zr30 multilayers grown by dc sputtering. Structural characterization was performed using x-ray reflectometry, x-ray diffraction, and transmission electron microscopy. X-ray circular dichroism, x-ray magnetic scattering as well as the magneto-optic Kerr effect were used to characterize the magnetic properties of the amorphous materials. The ratio of the orbital to spin moments in the single CoFeZr-layer sample was 0.012 +/- 0.005 for Fe and 0.078 +/- 0.005 for Co. Substantial reduction in the the ratio of the orbital to spin moments was observed with decreasing CoFeZr-layer thickness

Magnetic structure and diffracted magneto-optics of patterned amorphous multilayers

We present magneto-optical Kerr effect measurements of patterned arrays of Co68Fe24Zr8 / Al2O3 amorphous multilayers. The multilayers were patterned in two dimensions into two different arrangements of circular and ellipsoidal islands. Magnetization loops were recorded in a longitudinal geometry using both the specularly reflected beam as well as diffracted beams scattered off the patterned films. The magnetization of the patterned structures is significantly different from the magnetization of a continuous multilayer owing to the lateral confinement of the pattern and the introduction of additional dipolar coupling between the layers at the edges of the islands. By investigating the magnetic response at the different diffraction orders from the two different configurations of islands we are able to observe the magnetization at different length scales and determine the magnetic response of the circular and ellipsoidal islands individually