Ultrathin ferrimagnetic GdFeCo films with very low damping

Abstract

Spin-Hall nano oscillators (SHNOs) [1-4] have recently emerged as an alternative for microwave signal generation and bio-inspired oscillatory computing [3,4]. However, the ferromagnetic layer of the SHNO comes with drawbacks: (a) need for strong external magnetic fields, and (b) limited operational frequencies. As a solution, compensated ferrimagnets provide an alternative as they combine the ultrafast magnetization dynamics of antiferromagnets with a ferromagnet-like spin-orbit-torque (SOT) behavior. For use in SHNOs, it is however important to ensure that such films retain their ferrimagnetic behavior also in ultrathin films.In this work, ferrimagnetic Gdx(FeCo)1-x thin films were grown using co-sputtering of Gd and Fe87.5Co12.5 on high resistance (HR) Si (100) substrates, and their magneto-dynamics was studied using ferromagnetic resonance measurements at room temperature. By tuning the stoichiometry of Gdx(FeCo)1-x films, a nearly compensated behavior is for the first time demonstrated in 2nm thin film (Fig. 1). Values for the effective magnetization and effective Gilbert damping constant (α) of 0.02 Tesla and 0.0078±0.0002 are obtained for 2nm Gd24.4(FeCo)75.6 film, where α is comparable to the lowest value obtained in thick films [5]. The vertical red and yellow lines in Fig. 1(c) show literature values [5,6] for the spin angular momentum (xa) and magnetic momentum (xm) compensation points in thick films. The stoichiometry for the magnetic moment compensation in this work is very close to those [Fig. 1(c)]. In search of high-frequency auto-oscillations in SHNOs, constrictions with 50-300 nm widths were also prepared using Gdx(FeCo)1-x (2-10nm)/Pt(5nm) based stacks and promising results using Brillouin Light Scattering show SOT controllable ferromagnetic modes in these devices.  Fig. 1. (a) Frequency (f) vs. resonance field and (b) Resonance linewidth vs f, of 2 nm thick Gdx(FeCo)1−x films, with x the Gd atomic %. (c) Effective magnetization and effective Gilbert damping constant vs. composition of 2 nm Gdx(FeCo)1−x films; solid symbols represent values obtained by fitting the experimental data to the Kittel’s equation [7] and equation (10) in reference [8], while solid lines are a guide to the eye.