Dresden 2009 – scientific programme

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MA: Fachverband Magnetismus

MA 13: Poster Ia: Electron Theory (1); Magnetic Imaging (2,3); Thin Films (4-25); MSMA (26-33); Magn. Semiconductors (34-42); Magn. Half Metals and Oxides (43-60)

MA 13.11: Poster

Tuesday, March 24, 2009, 10:15–13:00, P1A

Epitaxial RECo₅ single layer and bilayer films — •Marietta Seifert, Felix Fleischhauer, Ajit Patra, Volker Neu, and Ludwig Schultz — IFW Dresden, Helmholtzstr. 20, 01069 Dresden, Germany

Intermetallic RECo phases are widely used in permanent magnet applications due to their large magnetocrystalline anisotropy. Therefore in previous work we developed epitaxial growth of thin SmCo₅ and PrCo₇ films on Cr buffered MgO(110) substrates with high coercivity or energy density [1,2]. RECo₅ phases with RE = Pr or Nd are also known to exhibit spin reorientation transition from an uniaxial state into easy-cone or easy-plane arrangement and are thus interesting from a fundamental point of view.

In this work we present the temperature and field dependent magnetic behaviour of epitaxial NdCo₅, SmCo₅ and PrCo₅ single layer films and bilayers. Epitaxial NdCo₅ films grow with the same single orientation of the c-axis established for SmCo₅ and exhibit an easy-axis to easy-plane transition. Bilayers of PrCo₅ and SmCo₅ likewise grow epitaxially with one common orientation of the c-axis throughout the layer stack. Despite their largely different coercivity when grown as single layers the bilayer films reverse magnetization in one large irreversible step indicating a strong interlayer exchange coupling.

[1] A. Singh, V. Neu, R. Tamm, K. Rao, S. Fähler, W. Skrotzki, L. Schultz, B. Holzapfel, JAP 99 08E917 (2006)

[2] A. Patra, V. Neu, S. Fähler, L. Schultz, J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 40 (2007) 7261-7266