Rotatable magnetic anisotropy in Si/SiO2/(Co2Fe)(x)Ge(1-x) Heusler alloy films

J Phys Condens Matter. 2013 Oct 16;25(41):416003. doi: 10.1088/0953-8984/25/41/416003. Epub 2013 Sep 11.

Abstract

Polycrystalline (Co2Fe)(x)Ge(1-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.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Alloys / chemistry*
  • Anisotropy
  • Computer Simulation
  • Magnetic Fields*
  • Membranes, Artificial*
  • Metals / chemistry*
  • Models, Chemical*
  • Models, Molecular*

Substances

  • Alloys
  • Membranes, Artificial
  • Metals