Depth-profiling magnetic interfaces formed intrinsically in FePt3 by ion-beams
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Date
2018-03-07
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
American Physical Society
Abstract
Using ion-beams to locally modify material properties is rapidly gaining momentum as a technique of choice for the fabrication of magnetic nano-elements because the method provides the capability to nano-engineer in 3D, which is important for many future spintronic technologies. The precise definition of the resulting element shape is crucial for device functionality. In this work, the intrinsic sharpness of a magnetic interface formed by nano-machining FePt3 films using He+ irradiation is investigated. Through careful selection of the irradiating ion’s energy and fluence, ferromagnetism is locally induced into a fractional volume of a paramagnetic (PM) FePt3 film by modifying the chemical order parameter. Using a combination of magnetometry, transmission electron microscopy and polarised neutron reflectometry it is demonstrated that the interface over which the PM to ferromagnetic modulation occurs is confined to a few atomic monolayers only. Using density functional theory, the mechanism for the ion-beam induced magnetic transition is elucidated and shown to be caused by an intermixing of Fe and Pt atoms in anti-site defects above a threshold density.
Description
Keywords
Ion beams, Magnetism, Interfaces, Materials, Thin Films, Irradiation, Ferromagnetism, Transmission electron microscopy, Neutron reflectors
Citation
Causer, G., Cortie, D., Zhu, H., Ionescu, M., Mankey, G., Wang, X., & Klose, F. (2018). Depth-profiling magnetic interfaces formed intrinsically in FePt 3 by ion-beams. Paper presented to the APS March Meeting 2018, Los Angeles, California, USA, 5-9 March, 2018. In Bulletin of the American Physical Society, 63, (1), L19.00009. Retrieved from: https://meetings.aps.org/Meeting/MAR18/Event/318778