Strain Control Of Magnetic Anisotropy Research Articles

Strain Control of Magnetic Anisotropy in Yttrium Iron Garnet Films in a Composite Structure with Yttrium Aluminum Garnet Substrate

This report is on the nature of strain in thin films of yttrium iron garnet (YIG) on yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG) substrates due to film-substrate lattice mismatch and the resulting induced magnetic anisotropy. Films with thickness 55 nm to 380 nm were deposited on (100), (110), and (111) YAG substrates using pulsed laser deposition (PLD) techniques and characterized by structural and magnetic characterization techniques. The in-plane strain determined to be compressive using X-ray diffraction (XRD). It varied from −0.12% to −0.98% and increased in magnitude with increasing film thickness and was relatively large in films on (100) YAG. The out-of-plane strain was tensile and also increased with increasing film thickness. The estimated strain-induced magnetic anisotropy field, found from XRD data, was out of plane; its value increased with film thickness and ranged from 0.47 kOe to 3.96 kOe. Ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) measurements at 5 to 21 GHz also revealed the presence of a perpendicular magnetic anisotropy that decreased with increasing film thickness and its values were smaller than values obtained from XRD data. The PLD YIG films on YAG substrates exhibiting a perpendicular anisotropy field have the potential for use in self-biased sensors and high-frequency devices.

Evidence for strain control of magnetic anisotropy in epitaxial nickel ferrite thin films grown on strontium titanate substrates

This report is on strain control of magnetic order parameters in 50 nm epitaxial NiFe2O4 (NFO) films grown on (001), (110), and (111) SrTiO3 (STO) single-crystal substrates by pulsed laser deposition. The related in-plane strains for NFO films on (001), (110), and (111) STO substrates are found to be ―1.36 %, 1.35 %, and 1.52 %, respectively, where the lattice mismatch between film and substrate is as high as 6.7 %. Our analysis of magnetization and ferromagnetic resonance on all the NFO films reveals the presence of a uniaxial anisotropy field, which is perpendicular to the film plane. The anisotropy field decreases with the increase of strain in NFO films. Specifically, NFO films on STO (111) and STO (001) have the lowest and highest uniaxial anisotropy fileds of 1.4 kOe and 6.1 kOe, respectively. These experimental values of anisotropy field are a factor of 5–10 times smaller than those of the calculated ones due to the film defects induced by the high lattice mismatch. The studies of magnetic anisotropy of spinel ferrite films are of interest for spintronics and microwave devices.

RETRACTED: Magneto transport measurements to unravel the epitaxial strain control of magnetic anisotropy in Ga1−xMnxAs/InGaAs layers

• The Ga 1-x Mn x As/InGaAs layer exhibits a strong sensitivity to the magnetic field and temperature.

Strain control of magnetic anisotropy in (Ga,Mn)As microbars

We present an experimental and theoretical study of magnetocrystalline anisotropies in arrays of bars patterned lithographically into (Ga,Mn)As epilayers grown under compressive lattice strain. Structural properties of the (Ga,Mn)As microbars are investigated by high-resolution x-ray diffraction measurements. The experimental data, showing strong strain relaxation effects, are in good agreement with finite element simulations. Magnetization measurements are performed using a superconducting quantum interference device to study the control of magnetic anisotropy in (Ga,Mn)As by the lithographically induced strain relaxation of the microbars. Microscopic theoretical modeling of the anisotropy is performed based on the mean-field kinetic-exchange model of the ferromagnetic spin-orbit coupled band structure of (Ga,Mn)As. Based on the overall agreement between experimental data and theoretical modeling, we conclude that the micropatterning induced anisotropies are of magnetocrystalline, spin-orbit coupling origin.