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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 613 records · Page 34
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2019

Observation of Nanoscale Skyrmions in SrIrO 3 /SrRuO 3 Bilayers

Skyrmion imaging and electrical detection via topological Hall (TH) effect are two primary techniques for probing magnetic skyrmions, which hold promise for next-generation magnetic storage. However, these two kinds of complementary techniques have rarely been employed to investigate the same samples. We report the observation of nanoscale skyrmions in SrIrO 3 /SrRuO 3 (SIO/SRO) bilayers in a wide temperature range from 10 to 100 K. The SIO/SRO bilayers exhibit a remarkable TH effect, which is up to 200% larger than the anomalous Hall (AH) effect at 5 K, and zero-field TH effect at 90 K. Using variable-temperature, high-field magnetic force microscopy (MFM), we imaged skyrmions as small as 10 nm, which emerge in the same field ranges as the TH effect. These results reveal a rich space for skyrmion exploration and tunability in oxide heterostructures.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Structural and magnetic etch damage in CoFeB

A detailed understanding of the interfacial properties of thin films used in magnetic media is critical for the aggressive component scaling required for continued improvement in storage density. In particular, it is important to understand how common etching and milling processes affect the interfacial magnetism. We have used polarized neutron reflectometry and transmission electron microscopy to characterize the structural and magnetic properties of an ion beam etched interface of a CoFeB film. We found that the etching process results in a sharp magnetic interface buried under a nanometer scale layer of non-magnetic, compositionally distinct material.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2015

TUNING THE MAGNETOELECTRIC PROPERTIES WITH STRAIN IN EPITAXIAL CO0.9SN0.1FE2O4 THIN FILMS

We have grown epitaxial Sn substituted cobalt ferrite thin films of various thicknesses on piezoelectric Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/(3))(0.72)Ti0.28O3 substrates and investigated the strain-induced changes of magnetic properties. All films described in this work have been deposited by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) from stoichiometric target of Co0.9Sn0.1Fe2O4. The lattice structure, crystallinity and orientation of the thin films were determined by X-ray diffraction analysis. The magnetization of thin films was measured for both, in-plane and out-of-plane configurations, using a superconductor quantum interference device (SQUID) magnetometer at 300 K. The measurements reveal that the magnetic anisotropy is altered by the strain imposed from the substrate upon application of an electric field. The magnetoelastic coupling is demonstrated by a change of the remanent magnetisation. However, we find that this strain effect is thickness dependent. The biggest strain effect is recorded for the thickest film (400nm) where an electric-field-controlled contraction of the substrate of 0.1% induces a relative change in magnetic moment of 9.3%. The relative change of the remanent magnetisation is reduced with decreasing film thickness and is smaller than 3% for the thinnest film (25nm).

epitaxy↗
DOE OSTI2015

Electronic structure reconstruction across the antiferromagnetic transition in TaFe₁̣₂₃Te₃ spin ladder

With angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy, we studied the electronic structure of TaFe₁̣₂₃Te₃, a two-leg spin ladder compound with a novel antiferromagnetic ground state. Quasi-two-dimensional Fermi surface is observed, with sizable inter-ladder hopping. Moreover, instead of observing an energy gap at the Fermi surface in the antiferromagnetic state, we observed the shifts of various bands. Combining these observations with density-functional-theory calculations, we propose that the large scale reconstruction of the electronic structure, caused by the interactions between coexisting itinerant electrons and local moments, is most likely the driving force of the magnetic transition. Thus TaFe₁̣₂₃Te₃ serves as a simpler platform that contains similar ingredients as the parent compounds of iron-based superconductors.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2020

The role of iron in magnetic damping of Mg(Al,Fe) 2 O 4 spinel ferrite thin films

© 2020 Author(s). We have investigated magnesium aluminum ferrite thin films with a range of iron concentrations and identified the optimal iron content to obtain high crystalline quality thin films with the low magnetic damping required for spin current-based applications. Epitaxial MgAl 2-x FexO4 films with 0.8 < x < 2.0 were grown by pulsed laser deposition on single crystal MgAl2O4 substrates and were characterized structurally and magnetically. We find that the x = 1.5 composition minimizes the room-temperature magnetic damping with a typical Gilbert damping parameter of α eff = 1.8 × 10-3. This minimized damping is governed by a competition between the more robust magnetic ordering with increased iron content, x, and the more defective structure due to larger film-substrate lattice mismatch with increased iron content. The temperature-dependent magnetization curves indicate that Tc is suppressed below room temperature for iron content x ≤ 1.2 and eventually suppressed entirely for x = 0.8. X-ray magnetic circular dichroism results indicate that for all x the magnetic moment is dominated by Fe 3 + cations distributed in a 60:40 ratio on the octahedral and tetrahedral sites, with minimal contribution from Fe 2 + cations. Films with x = 1.4-1.6 exhibit very strong ferromagnetic resonance and low Gilbert damping with α eff = (1.8-6) × 10-3, making them ideal candidates for microwave and spintronic applications.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2012

Layering and temperature-dependent magnetization and anisotropy of naturally produced Ni/NiO multilayers

Ni/NiO multilayers were grown by magnetron sputtering at room temperature, with the aid of the natural oxidation procedure. That is, at the end of the deposition of each single Ni layer, air is let to flow into the vacuum chamber through a leak valve. Then, a very thin NiO layer ({approx}1.2 nm) is formed. Simulated x-ray reflectivity patterns reveal that layering is excellent for individual Ni-layer thickness larger than 2.5 nm, which is attributed to the intercalation of amorphous NiO between the polycrystalline Ni layers. The magnetization of the films, measured at temperatures 5-300 K, has almost bulk-like value, whereas the films exhibit a trend to perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) with an unusual significant positive interface anisotropy contribution, which presents a weak temperature dependence. The power-law behavior of the multilayers indicates a non-negligible contribution of higher order anisotropies in the uniaxial anisotropy. Bloch-law fittings for the temperature dependence of the magnetization in the spin-wave regime show that the magnetization in the multilayers decreases faster as a function of temperature than the one of bulk Ni. Finally, when the individual Ni-layer thickness decreases below 2 nm, the multilayer stacking vanishes, resulting in a dramatic decrease of the interface magnetic anisotropy and consequently in a decrease of the perpendicular magnetic anisotropy.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

The thickness-dependent dynamic magnetic property of Co{sub 2}FeAl films grown by molecular beam epitaxy

Co{sub 2}FeAl films with different thickness were prepared at different temperature by molecular beam epitaxy. Their dynamic magnetic property was studied by the time-resolved magneto-optical Kerr effect measurements. It is observed that the intrinsic damping factor of Co{sub 2}FeAl for [100] orientation is not related to the film's thickness and magnetic anisotropy as well as temperature at high-field regime, but increases with structural disorder of Co{sub 2}FeAl. The dominant contribution from the inhomogeneous magnetic anisotropy is revealed to be responsible for the observed extremely nonlinear and drastic field-dependent damping factors at low-field regime.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2021

Heterobilayer moiré magnets: Moiré skyrmions and commensurate-incommensurate transitions

In this work, we study untwisted heterobilayers of ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic van der Waals materials, with in particular a Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction in the ferromagnetic layer. A continuum low-energy field theory is utilized to study such systems. We develop a phase diagram as a function of the strength of interlayer exchange and Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions, combining perturbative and strong coupling analyses with numerical simulations using Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert equations. Various moiré-periodic commensurate phases are found, and the commensurate-incommensurate transition is discussed. Among the commensurate phases, we observe an interesting skyrmion lattice phase wherein each moiré unit-cell hosts one skyrmion.

2-dimensional systems↗
DOE OSTI2023

Electronic noise of a single skyrmion

To enable the practical use of skyrmion-based devices, it is essential to achieve a balance between energy efficiency and thermal stability while also ensuring reliable electrical detection against noise. Understanding how a skyrmion interacts with material disorder and external perturbations is thus essential. Here, we investigate the electronic noise of a single skyrmion under the influence of thermal fluctuations and spin currents in a magnetic thin film. We detect the thermally induced noise with a 1/ƒ $\gamma$ signature in the strong pinning regime but a random telegraph noise in the intermediate pinning regime. Both the thermally dominated and current-induced telegraphlike signals are detected in the weak pinning regime. Our results provide a comprehensive electronic noise picture of a single skyrmion, demonstrating the potential of noise fluctuation as a valuable tool for characterizing the pinning condition of a skyrmion. In conclusion, these insights could also aid in the development of low-noise and reliable skyrmion-based devices.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2013

Compositional dependence of the magnetic properties of epitaxial FeV/MgO thin films

Owing to their bcc structures and the low lattice misfit with MgO, FeV alloys are interesting for MgO-based magnetic tunnel junctions. We use vector network analyzer ferromagnetic resonance to measure the magnetization, anisotropy, exchange stiffness, and damping of epitaxial FeV/MgO thin alloys of various V contents. The low magnetization, very high exchange stiffness (23 pJ/m) and very low effective damping (<0.0026) of the alloy with 20% V content makes it an interesting candidate for spin torque applications. The ultralow damping is consistent with a spin-orbit origin, which sheds light on the possible strategies to reduce the damping in alloys.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2011

Iron and nitrogen self-diffusion in non-magnetic iron nitrides

The self-diffusion of iron and nitrogen is measured in nm range non-magnetic iron nitride thin films. Two non-magnetic iron nitrides, Fe{sub 2.23}N and FeN, were studied using neutron reflectivity. Neutron reflectivity with a depth resolution in the sub-nm range has a different scattering cross section for isotopes, providing a unique opportunity to measure very small diffusivities. The isotope heterostructure in thin film multilayers [Fe-N/{sup 57}Fe-N]{sub 10} and [Fe-N/Fe-{sup 15}N]{sub 10} were prepared using magnetron sputtering. It was observed that nitrogen diffuses slower than iron although the atomic size of iron is larger than that of nitrogen. It was found that a significantly larger group of N atoms participates in the diffusion process than of Fe, making N diffusion slower than that of Fe.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2014

Magnetic tunnel junctions for magnetic field sensor by using CoFeB sensing layer capped with MgO film

We evaluated MgO-based magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) for magnetic field sensors with spin-valve-type structures in the CoFeB sensing layer capped by an MgO film in order to obtain both top and bottom interfaces of MgO/CoFeB exhibiting interfacial perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA). Hysteresis of the CoFeB sensing layer in these MTJs annealed at 275 °C was suppressed at a thickness of the sensing layer below 1.2 nm by interfacial PMA. We confirmed that the CoFeB sensing layers capped with MgO suppress the thickness dependences of both the magnetoresistance ratio and the magnetic behaviors of the CoFeB sensing layer more than that of the MTJ with a Ta capping layer. MgO-based MTJs with MgO capping layers can improve the controllability of the characteristics for magnetic field sensors.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2015

Optimization of L1{sub 0} FePt/Fe{sub 45}Co{sub 55} thin films for rare earth free permanent magnet applications

The magnetic properties of magnetron sputtered bilayers consisting of Fe{sub 45}Co{sub 55} ultrathin layers on top of L1{sub 0} FePt films epitaxially grown on MgO substrates are studied in view of their possible application as rare earth free permanent magnets. It is found that FePt layers induce a tetragonal distortion to the Fe-Co layers which leads to increased anisotropy. This allows to take advantage of the Fe-Co high magnetic moment with less significant loss of the coercivity compared to a typical hard/soft exchange spring system. A maximum energy product approaching 50 MGOe is obtained for a FePt(7 ML)/FeCo/(5 ML) sample. The results are in accordance with first-principles computational methods, which predict that even higher energy products are possible for micromagnetically optimized microstructures.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2017

Accurate model of the stripe domain phase of perpendicularly magnetized multilayers

We develop an accurate analytical model for the stray field energy of parallel stripe domains in multilayer films with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy, taking into account the effects of finite domain wall width and variable domain wall angle. By minimizing the total energy, we predict the domain width, the domain wall width, and the domain wall angle for given material parameters. We show how the domain wall width depends on the film thickness and the domain size. We explore the domain wall angle as a function of Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (DMI) and derive a threshold value We develop an accurate analytical model for the stray field energy of parallel stripe domains in multilayer films with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy, taking into account the effects of finite domain wall width and variable domain wall angle. By minimizing the total energy, we predict the domain width, the domain wall width, and the domain wall angle for given material parameters. We show how the domain wall width depends on the film thickness and the domain size. We explore the domain wall angle as a function of Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (DMI) and derive a threshold value D thr beyond which the system is in a Néel state. We find that thicker films require larger values of DMI to stabilize the Néel state. Finally, we test the effective medium theory, which allows treating multilayers as effective single layer films, and provide criteria for the applicability of the model in the presence of both surface and volume stray fields. Furthermore our results are supported by micromagnetic simulations, which indicate that the predictions are still precise even if the system is in a labyrinthine domain state. Using our model, otherwise inaccessible magnetic parameters, such as the DMI constant or the exchange constant, can now be obtained straightforwardly from static measurements of the stripe domain width in such films.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2021

Designing high-performance superconductors with nanoparticle inclusions: Comparisons to strong pinning theory

One of the most promising routes for achieving high critical currents in superconductors is to incorporate dispersed, non-superconducting nanoparticles to control the dissipative motion of vortices. However, these inclusions reduce the overall superconducting volume and can strain the interlaying superconducting matrix, which can detrimentally reduce T c . Consequently, an optimal balance must be achieved between the nanoparticle density n p and size d. Determining this balance requires garnering a better understanding of vortex–nanoparticle interactions, described by strong pinning theory. Here, we map the dependence of the critical current on nanoparticle size and density in (Y 0.77 , Gd 0.23 )Ba 2 Cu 3 O 7-δ films in magnetic fields of up to 35 T and compare the trends to recent results from time-dependent Ginzburg–Landau simulations. We identify consistency between the field-dependent critical current J c (B) and expectations from strong pinning theory. Specifically, we find that J c ∝ B -α , where α decreases from 0.66 to 0.2 with increasing density of nanoparticles and increases roughly linearly with nanoparticle size d/ξ (normalized to the coherence length). At high fields, the critical current decays faster (~B -1 ), suggesting that each nanoparticle has captured a vortex. When nanoparticles capture more than one vortex, a small, high-field peak is expected in J c (B). Due to a spread in defect sizes, this novel peak effect remains unresolved here. Finally, we reveal that the dependence of the vortex creep rate S on nanoparticle size and density roughly mirrors that of α, and we compare our results to low-T nonlinearities in S(T) that are predicted by strong pinning theory.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2022

Controlling magnetic configuration in soft–hard bilayers probed by polarized neutron reflectometry

Hard/soft magnetic bilayer thin films have been widely used in data storage technologies and permanent magnet applications. The magnetic configuration and response to temperatures and magnetic fields in these heterostructures are considered to be highly dependent on the interfacial coupling. However, the intrinsic properties of each of the layers, such as the saturation magnetization and layer thickness, also strongly influence the magnetic configuration. Changing these parameters provides an effective method to tailor magnetic properties in composite magnets. Here, we use polarized neutron reflectometry (PNR) to experimentally probe the interfacial magnetic configurations in the hard/soft bilayer thin films: L1 0 -FePt/A1-FePt, [Co/Pd]/CoPd, [Co/Pt]/FeNi, and L1 0 -FePt/Fe, all of which have a perpendicular magnetic anisotropy in the hard layer. These films were designed with different soft and hard layer thicknesses (t soft and t hard ) and saturation magnetization (M$_s^{soft}$ and M$_s^{hard}$). The influences of an in-plane magnetic field (H ip ) and temperature (T) are also studied using a L1 0 -FePt/A1-FePt bilayer sample. Comparing the PNR results to the micromagnetic simulations reveals that the interfacial magnetic configuration is highly dependent on t soft , M$_s^{soft}, and the external factors (H ip and T) and has a relatively weak dependence on t hard and M$_s^{hard}$. Key among these results, for thin t soft , the hard and soft layers are rigidly coupled in the out-of-plane direction and then undergo a transition to relax in-plane. This transition can be delayed to larger t soft by decreasing M$_s^{soft}$. Understanding the influence of these parameters on the magnetic configuration is critical to designing functional composite magnets for applications.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2013

Electronic structures and magnetic moments of Co{sub 3}FeN thin films grown by molecular beam epitaxy

We evaluated electronic structures and magnetic moments in Co{sub 3}FeN epitaxial films on SrTiO{sub 3}(001). The experimentally obtained hard x-ray photoemission spectra of the Co{sub 3}FeN film have a good agreement with those calculated. Site averaged spin magnetic moments deduced by x-ray magnetic circular dichroism were 1.52 μ{sub B} per Co atom and 2.08 μ{sub B} per Fe atom at 100 K. They are close to those of Co{sub 4}N and Fe{sub 4}N, respectively, implying that the Co and Fe atoms randomly occupy the corner and face-centered sites in the Co{sub 3}FeN unit cell.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2021

Magnetic Weyl Semimetallic Phase in Thin Films of Eu 2 Ir 2 O 7

The interplay between electronic interactions and strong spin-orbit coupling is expected to create a plethora of fascinating correlated topological states of quantum matter. Of particular interest are magnetic Weyl semimetals originally proposed in the pyrochlore iridates, which are only expected to reveal their topological nature in thin film form. To date, however, direct experimental demonstrations of these exotic phases remain elusive, due to the lack of usable single crystals and the insufficient quality of available films. Here, in this study, we report on the discovery of signatures for the long-sought magnetic Weyl semimetallic phase in (111)-oriented Eu 2 Ir 2 O 7 high-quality epitaxial thin films. We observed an intrinsic anomalous Hall effect with colossal coercivity but vanishing net magnetization, which emerges right below the onset of a peculiar magnetic phase with all-in-all-out (AIAO) antiferromagnetic ordering. The anomalous Hall conductivity obtained experimentally is consistent with the theoretical prediction, likely arising from the nonzero Berry curvature emanated by Weyl node pairs near the Fermi level that act as sources and sinks of Berry flux, activated by broken cubic crystal symmetry at the top and bottom terminations of the thin film.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗