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Title: Exchange bias and bistable magneto-resistance states in amorphous TbFeCo thin films

Abstract

Amorphous TbFeCo thin films sputter deposited at room temperature on thermally oxidized Si substrate are found to exhibit strong perpendicular magnetic anisotropy. Atom probe tomography, scanning transmission electron microscopy, and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy mapping have revealed two nanoscale amorphous phases with different Tb atomic percentages distributed within the amorphous film. Exchange bias accompanied by bistable magneto-resistance states has been uncovered near room temperature by magnetization and magneto-transport measurements. The exchange anisotropy originates from the exchange interaction between the ferrimagnetic and ferromagnetic components corresponding to the two amorphous phases. This study provides a platform for exchange bias and magneto-resistance switching using single-layer amorphous ferrimagnetic thin films that require no epitaxial growth.

Authors:
; ;  [1];  [2]; ;  [3]
  1. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia 22904 (United States)
  2. Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, Washington 99352 (United States)
  3. Physical and Computational Sciences Directorate, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, Washington 99352 (United States)
Publication Date:
OSTI Identifier:
22489243
Resource Type:
Journal Article
Journal Name:
Applied Physics Letters
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 108; Journal Issue: 1; Other Information: (c) 2016 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); Journal ID: ISSN 0003-6951
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSICS; AMORPHOUS STATE; ANISOTROPY; ATOMS; DEPOSITS; EPITAXY; EXCHANGE INTERACTIONS; MAGNETIZATION; MAGNETORESISTANCE; MAPPING; NANOSTRUCTURES; SPUTTERING; SUBSTRATES; TEMPERATURE RANGE 0273-0400 K; THIN FILMS; TOMOGRAPHY; TRANSMISSION ELECTRON MICROSCOPY; X-RAY SPECTROSCOPY

Citation Formats

Li, Xiaopu, Ma, Chung T., Poon, S. Joseph, E-mail: sjp9x@virginia.edu, Lu, Jiwei, Devaraj, Arun, Spurgeon, Steven R., and Comes, Ryan B. Exchange bias and bistable magneto-resistance states in amorphous TbFeCo thin films. United States: N. p., 2016. Web. doi:10.1063/1.4939240.
Li, Xiaopu, Ma, Chung T., Poon, S. Joseph, E-mail: sjp9x@virginia.edu, Lu, Jiwei, Devaraj, Arun, Spurgeon, Steven R., & Comes, Ryan B. Exchange bias and bistable magneto-resistance states in amorphous TbFeCo thin films. United States. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4939240
Li, Xiaopu, Ma, Chung T., Poon, S. Joseph, E-mail: sjp9x@virginia.edu, Lu, Jiwei, Devaraj, Arun, Spurgeon, Steven R., and Comes, Ryan B. 2016. "Exchange bias and bistable magneto-resistance states in amorphous TbFeCo thin films". United States. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4939240.
@article{osti_22489243,
title = {Exchange bias and bistable magneto-resistance states in amorphous TbFeCo thin films},
author = {Li, Xiaopu and Ma, Chung T. and Poon, S. Joseph, E-mail: sjp9x@virginia.edu and Lu, Jiwei and Devaraj, Arun and Spurgeon, Steven R. and Comes, Ryan B.},
abstractNote = {Amorphous TbFeCo thin films sputter deposited at room temperature on thermally oxidized Si substrate are found to exhibit strong perpendicular magnetic anisotropy. Atom probe tomography, scanning transmission electron microscopy, and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy mapping have revealed two nanoscale amorphous phases with different Tb atomic percentages distributed within the amorphous film. Exchange bias accompanied by bistable magneto-resistance states has been uncovered near room temperature by magnetization and magneto-transport measurements. The exchange anisotropy originates from the exchange interaction between the ferrimagnetic and ferromagnetic components corresponding to the two amorphous phases. This study provides a platform for exchange bias and magneto-resistance switching using single-layer amorphous ferrimagnetic thin films that require no epitaxial growth.},
doi = {10.1063/1.4939240},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/22489243}, journal = {Applied Physics Letters},
issn = {0003-6951},
number = 1,
volume = 108,
place = {United States},
year = {Mon Jan 04 00:00:00 EST 2016},
month = {Mon Jan 04 00:00:00 EST 2016}
}

Works referencing / citing this record:

Thickness dependence of ferrimagnetic compensation in amorphous rare-earth transition-metal thin films
journal, October 2018


Giant exchange bias effect in all-3 d -metal Ni 38.8 Co 2.9 Mn 37.9 Ti 20.4 thin film
journal, January 2020


Three-dimensional nanoscale characterisation of materials by atom probe tomography
journal, November 2016


All-Optical Switching of Magnetic Tunnel Junctions with Single Subpicosecond Laser Pulses
journal, February 2017


All-optical spin switching: A new frontier in femtomagnetism — A short review and a simple theory
journal, August 2016