No Arabic abstract
A cluster deposition method was used to produce films of loosely aggregated nanoclusters (NC) of Fe core-Fe3O4 shell or fully oxidized Fe3O4. Films of these NC on Si(100) or MgO(100)/Fe3O4(100) were irradiated to 10^16 Si2+/cm2 near room temperature using an ion accelerator. Ion irradiation creates structural change in the NC film with corresponding chemical and magnetic changes which depend on the initial oxidation state of the cluster. Films were characterized using magnetometry (hysteresis, first order reversal curves), microscopy (transmission electron, helium ion), and x-ray diffraction. In all cases, the particle sizes increased due to ion irradiation, and when a core of Fe is present, irradiation reduces the oxide shells to lower valent Fe species. These results show that ion irradiated behavior of the nanocluster films depends strongly on the initial nanostructure and chemistry, but in general saturation magnetization decreases slightly.
We investigate the interplay between the structural reconstruction and the magnetic properties of Fe doublelayers on Ir (111)-substrate using first-principles calculations based on density functional theory and mapping of the total energies on an atomistic spin model. We show that, if a second Fe monolayer is deposited on Fe/Ir (111), the stacking may change from hexagonal close-packed to bcc (110)-like accompanied by a reduction of symmetry from trigonal to centered rectangular. Although the bcc-like surface has a lower coordination, we find that this is the structural ground state. This reconstruction has a major impact on the magnetic structure. We investigate in detail the changes in the magnetic exchange interaction, the magnetocrystalline anisotropy, and the Dzyaloshinskii Moriya interaction depending on the stacking sequence of the Fe double-layer. Based on our findings, we suggest a new technique to engineer Dzyaloshinskii Moriya interactions in multilayer systems employing symmetry considerations. The resulting anisotropic Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions may stabilize higher-order skyrmions or antiskyrmions.
The manipulation of the antiferromagnetic interlayer coupling in the epitaxial Fe/Cr/Fe(001) trilayer system by moderate 5 keV He ion beam irradiation has been investigated experimentally. It is shown that even for irradiation with very low fluences (10^14 ions/cm^2) a drastic change in strength of the coupling appears. For thin Cr-spacers (below 0.6 - 0.7 nm) the coupling strength decreases with fluence, becoming ferromagnetic for fluences above (2x10^14 ions/cm^2). The effect is connected with the creation of magnetic bridges in the layered system due to atomic exchange events caused by the bombardment. For thicker Cr spacers (0.8 - 1.2 nm) an enhancement of the antiferromagnetic coupling strength is found. A possible explanation of the enhancement effect is given.
Ab initio simulations carried out in different atomic cluster configurations in bcc Fe matrix containing Zr and Al suggest energetic favorability of Y-Zr-O phase nucleation, preferably with trigonal Y4Zr3O12 structure. Subsequently, the HRTEM investigation of the as-prepared Fe - 14 Cr-0.3 Y2O3 - 0.6 Zr - 4Al oxide dispersion strengthened (ODS) alloy shows 78% of precipitates with Y4Zr3O12 structure, thereby confirming the predictive power of ab initio simulations on the secondary formation in multi-component alloys.
In this work we analyse the role of a thin Cr spacer between Fe and Gd layers on structure and magnetic properties of a [Fe(35A)/Cr(tCr)/Gd(50A)/Cr(tCr)]x12 superlattice. Samples without the Cr spacer (tCr=0) and with a thin tCr=4A are investigated using X-ray diffraction, polarized neutron and resonance X-ray magnetic reflectometry, SQUID magnetometery, magneto-optical Kerr effect and ferromagnetic resonance techniques. Magnetic properties are studied experimentally in a wide temperature range 4-300K and analysed theoretically using numerical simulation on the basis of the mean-field model. We show that a reasonable agreement with the experimental data can be obtained considering temperature dependence of the effective field parameter in gadolinium layers. The analysis of the experimental data shows that besides a strong reduction of the antiferromagnetic coupling between Fe and Gd, the introduction of Cr spacers into Fe/Gd superlattice leads to modification of both structural and magnetic characteristics of the ferromagnetic layers.
We present a comprehensive study on the magnetization reversal in Fe/NiFe bilayer system by alternating the order of the magnetic layers. All the samples show growth-induced uniaxial magnetic anisotropy due to oblique angle deposition technique. Strong interfacial exchange coupling between the Fe and NiFe layers leads to the single-phase hysteresis loops in the bilayer system. The strength of coupling being dependent on the interface changes upon alternating the order of magnetic layers. The magnetic parameters such as coercivity HC, and anisotropy field HK become almost doubled when NiFe layer is grown over the Fe layers. This enhancement in the magnetic parameters is primarily dependent on the increase of the thickness and magnetic moment of Fe-NiFe interfacial layer as revealed from the polarized neutron reectivity (PNR) data of the bilayer samples. The difference in the thickness and magnetization of the Fe-NiFe interfacial layer indicates the modification of the microstructure by alternating the order of the magnetic layers of the bilayers. The interfacial magnetic moment increased by almost 18 % when NiFe layer is grown over the Fe layer. In spite of the different values of anisotropy fields and modified interfacial exchange coupling, the Gilbert damping constant values of the ferromagnetic bilayers remain similar to single NiFe layer.