Morphological and magnetic characteristics of monodispersed Co-cluster assemblies

Abstract

Co-cluster-assembled films have been prepared using a size-controllable cluster beam deposition system, by which monodispersed Co clusters with a mean diameter, d=6–13 nm are available. Their morphology and magnetic properties have been studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), small-angle x-ray scattering (SAXS) and magnetization measurements. The SEM images show that the film has a porous structure consisting of fine grains without a columnar texture and its density is about 25% of the bulk Co. The SAXS measurements indicate that monodispersivity of the incident clusters is maintained through their assembling process only for d=13 nm. All the specimens exhibit ferromagnetic behavior at room temperature and the magnetic coercive field Hc rapidly increases with decreasing temperature: Hc=168 kA/m (2.1 kOe) at 5 K. Such an enhancement in Hc is ascribed to the exchange anisotropy which arises from the antiferromagnetic Co–oxide layers covering the Co clusters, and to the assemblies of single-domain ferromagnetic clusters with the structure modification and magnetic interaction among them. The monotonic increase in Hc at 300 K with increasing d is simply understood in terms of the single-domain particle theory.