Structural anisotropy in amorphous Fe-Tb thin films

Journal Article · Wed May 01 04:00:00 EDT 1996 · Physical Review, B: Condensed Matter

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.53.12024· OSTI ID:283895

Hufnagel, T C ^[1]; Brennan, S ^[2]; Zschack, P ^[3]; Clemens, B M ^[1]

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1. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305-2205 (United States)
2. Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94309 (United States)
3. Metals and Ceramics Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831-6118 (United States)

We have used conventional and anomalous dispersion x-ray scattering to study the near-neighbor atomic environments in sputter-deposited amorphous Fe-Tb thin films with a large perpendicular magnetic anisotropy. The as-deposited films show a clear structural anisotropy, with more Fe-Tb near neighbor pairs in the out-of-plane direction. Upon annealing, the magnetic anisotropy drops significantly, and we see a corresponding reduction in the structural anisotropy. The number of Fe-Tb near-neighbors increases in the in-plane direction, but does not change in the out-of-plane direction. Therefore, the distribution of Fe-Tb near neighbors becomes more uniform upon annealing. We conclude that the observed reduction in perpendicular magnetic anisotropy energy is a result of this change in structure. {copyright} {ital 1996 The American Physical Society.}

• Research Organization: Stanford Linear Accelerator Center
• DOE Contract Number: AC03-76SF00515; AC05-84OR21400
• OSTI ID: 283895
• Journal Information: Physical Review, B: Condensed Matter, Journal Name: Physical Review, B: Condensed Matter Journal Issue: 18 Vol. 53; ISSN 0163-1829; ISSN PRBMDO
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
66 PHYSICS
AMORPHOUS STATE
ANISOTROPY
ANNEALING
BINARY ALLOY SYSTEMS
CRYSTAL STRUCTURE
IRON
IRON ALLOYS
MAGNETIC PROPERTIES
TERBIUM ALLOYS
THIN FILMS
X-RAY DIFFRACTION
XRD