Thickness-Dependent Permanent Magnet Properties of Zr$$_{2}$$Co$$_{11}$$ Thin Films Grown on Si with Pt Underlayer

Abstract

Zr-Co is one of the essential magnetic materials due to its interesting magnetic and structural properties. In this work, we studied the magnetic and structural properties of Zr\(_{2}\)Co\(_{11}\) thin films of different thicknesses grown on Si substrate with Pt underlayer. The structural properties and chemical composition of the Zr\(_{2}\)Co\(_{11}\) films were investigated by X-ray diffraction analysis, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis, and atomic force microscopy–magnetic force microscopy measurements. The saturation magnetization, M(H) characteristic, and Henkel plots of the Zr-Co films were obtained by vibrating-sample magnetometry. The results show that \(H_{\text {c}}\) and \((BH)_{\max }\) were enhanced with decreasing layer thickness of Zr-Co. For 10-nm Zr\(_{2}\)Co\(_{11}\) with 20-nm Pt underlayer thin film, we observed coercive field of 2 kOe with energy product of 0.7 MGOe. Our results may be valuable for use of Zr\(_{2}\)Co\(_{11}\) thin films in nanomagnet applications.