Competing interface and bulk anisotropies in Co-rich TbCo amorphous thin films. (16th March 2023)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Thórarinsdóttir, K A; Thorbjarnardóttir, B R; Arnalds, U B; Magnus, F
• Is Part Of: Journal of physics. Volume 35:Number 20(2023)
• Publication Date: 2023-03-16
• Subjects: tunable -- perpendicular -- magnetic -- anisotropy -- Co-rich -- TbCo; Condensed matter -- Periodicals; Matière condensée -- Périodiques; Vaste stoffen; Vloeistoffen; Natuurkunde; Electronic journals; Computer network resources; 530.4105
• DOI: 10.1088/1361-648X/acc226
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0953-8984

Abstract

Abstract: We study the magnetic properties of amorphous Tb x Co 100 − x films with x in the range 8−12 at% and with a thickness of 5−100 nm. In this range the magnetic properties are shaped by a competition between a perpendicular bulk magnetic anisotropy and an in-plane interface anisotropy, in addition to the changes in magnetization. This results in a temperature controllable spin reorientation transition from in-plane to out-of-plane which is thickness and composition dependent. Furthermore, we show that perpendicular anisotropy is recovered throughout an entire TbCo/CoAlZr multilayer, where neither TbCo nor CoAlZr single layers exhibit perpendicular anisotropy. This illustrates the important role of the TbCo interfaces in the overall effective anisotropy.