Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
1606951 | Journal of Alloys and Compounds | 2016 | 6 Pages |
Abstract
In this work, we explore the possibility of tailoring of magnetic anisotropy in Tb-Fe-Co thin films by rapid thermal annealing (RTA) of as-deposited films for various time intervals. Rapid thermal annealing of 200 nm thick Tb21Fe62Co17 was carried out at 550 °C under vacuum for different annealing times viz., 2, 5, 10, 15, 20 and 30 min. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) studies indicated that the as-deposited films had an amorphous structure with fine nano-sized columnar morphology. Upon RTA nucleation of Fe-Co nano-crystals embedded in amorphous Tb-Fe-Co matrix could be evidenced. It was found that while the as-deposited films exhibited a strong perpendicular magnetic anisotropy, increasing annealing time resulted in an increasing in-plane magnetic anisotropy component and a decreasing perpendicular anisotropy component resulting in different tilted angle magnetic anisotropies. The decrease in PMA with increasing annealing time was also evidenced from the decrease in out-of-plane (OOP) coercivity and squareness ratio. With increasing annealing time, the PMA was found to decrease due to the nucleation of Fe-Co nano-crystalline phase which induces an in-plane magnetic anisotropy. The results of present study indicate that magnetic anisotropy either along the in-plane or OOP or tilted at the desired angle can be realized in a single magnetic layer by tuning the annealing time during RTA.
Related Topics
Physical Sciences and Engineering
Materials Science
Metals and Alloys
Authors
K. Umadevi, Sandip Bysakh, J. Arout Chelvane, S.V. Kamat, V. Jayalakshmi,