Spring magnet films.
The properties of exchange-spring-coupled bilayer and superlattice films are highlighted for Sm-Co hard magnet and Fe or Co soft magnet layers. The hexagonal Sm-Co is grown via magnetron sputtering in a- and b-axis epitaxial orientations. In both cases the c-axis, in the film plane, is the easy axis of magnetization. Trends in coercivity with film thickness are established and related to the respective microstructure of the two orientations. The magnetization reversal process for the bilayers is examined by magnetometry and magneto-optical imaging, as well as by simulations that utilize a one-dimensional model to provide the spin configuration for each atomic layer. The Fe magnetization is pinned to that of the Sm-Co at the interface, and reversal proceeds via a progressive twisting of the Fe magnetization. The Fe demagnetization curves are reversible as expected for a spring magnet. Comparison of experiment and simulations indicates that the spring magnet behavior can be understood from the intrinsic properties of the hard and soft layers. Estimated are made of the ultimate gain in performance that can potentially be realized in this system.
- Research Organization:
- Argonne National Lab., IL (US)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- US Department of Energy (US)
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-31109-ENG-38
- OSTI ID:
- 12421
- Report Number(s):
- ANL/MSD/CP-98200; TRN: AH200120%%240
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: International Magnetics Conference (INTERMAG '99), Kyongju (KR), 05/18/1999--05/21/1999; Other Information: PBD: 29 Mar 1999
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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