Ultrathin interfacial layer with suppressed room temperature magnetization in magnesium aluminum ferrite thin films

Wisser, Jacob J.; Emori, Satoru; Riddiford, Lauren; Altman, Aaron; Li, Peng; Mahalingam, Krishnamurthy; Urwin, Brittany T.; Howe, Brandon M.; Page, Michael R.; Grutter, Alexander J.; Kirby, Brian J.; Suzuki, Yuri

doi:10.1063/1.5111326

Ultrathin interfacial layer with suppressed room temperature magnetization in magnesium aluminum ferrite thin films

Journal Article · Tue Sep 24 00:00:00 EDT 2019 · Applied Physics Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5111326· OSTI ID:1611065

^[1]; ^[2]; ^[3]; Altman, Aaron ^[3]; Li, Peng ^[4]; Mahalingam, Krishnamurthy ^[5]; Urwin, Brittany T. ^[5]; Howe, Brandon M. ^[5]; ^[5]; ^[6]; ^[6]; ^[3]

Stanford Univ., CA (United States); DOE/OSTI
Virginia Polytechnic Inst. and State Univ. (Virginia Tech), Blacksburg, VA (United States)
Stanford Univ., CA (United States)
Stanford Univ., CA (United States). Geballe Lab. for Advanced Materials
Air Force Research Lab. (AFRL), Wright-Patterson AFB, OH (United States)
National Inst. of Standards and Technology (NIST), Gaithersburg, MD (United States). Center for Neutron Research

Low-damping magnetic oxide thin films with small thicknesses are essential for efficient insulator spintronic devices, particularly those driven by spin torque effects. Here, we investigate the depth-resolved compositional and magnetic properties of epitaxial spinel MgAl_0.5Fe_1.5O₄ (MAFO), which has recently been reported as a promising low-damping insulator. We find that ≈11nm films exhibit optimal Gilbert damping, with a typical damping parameter of 0.001. While defects due to strain relaxation in the bulk of the film contribute to increased damping for large film thickness, the damping increase in thinner films is attributed to the presence of a chemically disordered magnetic dead layer at the film/substrate interface. This interfacial dead layer arises from an Fe-deficient MAFO layer. Notably, this layer is only about one-sixth the thickness of that found at the interface between yttrium iron garnet films and gadolinium gallium garnet substrates, making MAFO an ideal thin-film insulator for spin-torque applications.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Stanford Univ., CA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: National Science Foundation (NSF); US Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR); US Department of the Navy, Office of Naval Research (ONR); USDOE Office of Science (SC); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Materials Sciences & Engineering Division

Grant/Contract Number:: SC0008505

OSTI ID:: 1611065

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1566175

Journal Information:: Applied Physics Letters, Journal Name: Applied Physics Letters Journal Issue: 13 Vol. 115; ISSN 0003-6951

Publisher:: American Institute of Physics (AIP)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Damping Enhancement in Coherent Ferrite–Insulating-Paramagnet Bilayers Wisser, Jacob J.; Grutter, Alexander J.; Gilbert, Dustin A. Physical Review Applied, Vol. 12, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevapplied.12.054044	journal	November 2019

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Ultrathin interfacial layer with suppressed room temperature magnetization in magnesium aluminum ferrite thin films

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