Focused ion beam induced structural modifications in thin magnetic films
- Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf e.V., Institute of Ion Beam Physics and Materials Research, Dresden (Germany)
Focused ion beam techniques are one way to modify locally the properties of magnetic thin films. We report on structural investigations of 50 nm thick non-ordered nano-crystalline Permalloy (Ni{sub 81}Fe{sub 19}) films modified by 30 keV Ga{sup +} focused ion beam (FIB) irradiation. From the x-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements a considerable crystallite growth and a material texturing towards (111)-direction with a linearly increasing lattice constant was observed. In addition, cross-sectional transmission electron microscope (XTEM) images show that crystallites are growing through the entire film at high irradiation fluences. Extended x-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) analysis shows a perfect near-order coordination corresponding to a face-centered (fcc) unit cell for both Fe, Ni and Ga atom surrounding. The structural changes are accompanied by a decrease of saturation polarization with increasing ion fluence. Such a behavior is attributed to the incorporation of non-magnetic Ga atoms in the Permalloy film.
- OSTI ID:
- 22089379
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 112, Issue 3; Other Information: (c) 2012 American Institute of Physics; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0021-8979
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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