Search

Antiferromagnetic magnetization dynamics is more effective than ferromagnetic magnetization; however, it is extremely complex. Rare earth (RE) ferrimagnets, on the other hand, have tunable magnetization with associated negative exchange interaction in sublattices. Here, we study different RE-Fe ferrimagnets while changing the RE-content. We obtain various magnetic properties like saturation magnetization MS, coercivity HC, magnetic anisotropy energy constant Ku, exchange coupling constant λ, and compensation temperature Tcomp for different RE compositions. We suggest that along with MS and HC, λ is another important parameter that is easy to measure and has information that is similar to that in the spin-orbit torque effective field and the canting angle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interlayer dipolar coupling is an important aspect in magnetic switching devices from the application point of view. Here, we identify various sources affecting the interlayer dipolar coupling in CoFeB-based perpendicular magnetic tunnel junctions (pMTJs). By changing the MgO tunnel barrier layer thickness, we show that it plays a crucial role in controlling the dipolar coupling between the CoFeB reference and free layers and affects the magnetic properties of pMTJ. Moreover, changes in thickness of the bottom electrode layer affect the interlayer coupling strength and change the magnetic anisotropy of the free layer from perpendicular to in-plane direction. Furthermore, it is observed that the smaller the cell size of such MTJs, the more dominating the coupling strength which is formed by stray fields. These are some of the crucial parameters which need to be investigated during the device fabrication process for optimum device performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Among various perpendicularly anisotropic magnetic materials, amorphous rare earth-transition metal RE-TM alloys have attracted much interest due to the advantages of tunable magnetic properties and suitable perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) strength. In this study, the magnetic properties of the Ta/TbFeCo/MgO structure with various Tb-contents are investigated under different annealing conditions like heating rate and annealing temperature. The samples were annealed at heating rate from 10 °C/min to 50 °C/min and holding time was varied from 10 min to 30 min with annealing temperatures ranging from 100 to 150 °C. We found that fast heating rate and low holding temperature help to improve PMA and significantly increase the saturation magnetization and squareness of the TbFeCo films. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is commonly known that the coercivity (Hc) of the rare-earth/transition-metal (RE–TM) compound is tuned based on the varying RE content as compared to the TM component. The drawback of this approach is that the Hc changes are permanent. In this work, we investigate the coercivity behaviors of the GdFeCo/Hf/MgO heterostructure where the heavy metal Hf layer is inserted in the middle not only to convert charge current into spin current but also to prevent the oxygen diffusion effect. A strong geometry dependence of coercivity detected on Hall bar devices is attributed to the intrinsic properties of GdFeCo and elucidates that the oxidation issue from MgO on GdFeCo is prevented. By selecting a proper Gd content, we demonstrate that the coercivity can be altered flexibly in a wide range H c max / H c min ≈ 200 % via electric current. We develop a simple model to simulate the roles of Joule heating and spin–orbit torques in the novel behaviors of coercivity. It is verified that the excellent magnetic characteristics of GdFeCo are still preserved while manipulating coercivity by the electric current. Our findings broaden the new magnetic behaviors of RE–TM alloys, making them attractive for tunable magnetic anisotropy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate the Hf/GdFeCo bilayer with the MgO cap layer for both rare earth (RE)-rich and transition metal (TM)-rich configurations of the ferrimagnetic sublattice in the presence of the perpendicular field. We study the coercivity using the anomalous Hall effect (AHE) technique by multiple measurements on the same sample. In the first set of measurements and at low electric currents, coercivity sharply drops because of the oxygen diffusion at the interface between MgO and GdFeCo when the AHE probe current is applied. During the subsequent measurements on the RE-rich sample, we observe a moderate decrease in coercivity at low currents and the coercivity increases in a high current range. Such nonlinear dependence of coercivity on electric current can be explained by the competing interplay of the spin–orbit torque (SOT) and the Joule heating effects. On the other hand, for the TM-rich case, the SOT effect is observed over a widely applied current range. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report on a theoretical study of thermal magnetization switching induced by nanosecond electric current pulse using Lagrangian formalism based on the Landau–Lifshitz–Gilbert equation. The parameters for modeling are obtained from the measurements of the anomalous Hall resistance at different probe currents. We obtain the switching diagrams, analyze how the switching rate depends on the pulse parameters and the applied magnetic field, and find the optimal set of values such as orientation of the field, electric pulse duration, and energy consumption. We find that the magnetization switching is particularly efficient near the compensation point, where a decrease in the magnetization of the rare-earth sublattices by 10% or less can lead to reversal of net magnetization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the original manuscript,[1] there is an incorrect affiliation for our co-author (K. A. Zvezdin). REFERENCE 1 N. T. Hai, I. Kindiak, V. Yurlov, R. C. Bhatt, C.-M. Liao, L.-X. Ye, T.-h. Wu, K. A. Zvezdin, and J.-C. Wu, "Unusual behavior of coercivity in Hf/GdFeCo bilayer with MgO cap layer by electric current", AIP Advances 10, 105202 (2020).10.1063/5.0023636. [Extracted from the article]