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Amorphous metals have unusual magnetic properties that arise due to the disordered atomic arrangement. We show that Co-x(Al70Zr30)(100-x) (65 < x < 92 at.%) amorphous alloys have a distribution in the local magnetic coupling and ordering temperature, which can be explained by nanoscale composition variations. We use competing anisotropies induced by the substrate and an applied field during growth to probe the Co concentration distribution. Only regions with high enough Co concentration develop a magnetic anisotropy along the magnetic field during growth, whereas regions of low Co concentration have an anisotropy dictated by the substrate. A Gaussian distribution in the Co concentration of width 5.1 at.% is obtained from the variation in anisotropy. The results demonstrate the importance of composition variations for emergent magnetic properties and have far reaching implications for the properties of disordered materials in general.

Amorphous metals have unusual magnetic properties that arise due to the disordered atomic arrangement. We show that Co-x(Al70Zr30)(100-x) (65 < x < 92 at.%) amorphous alloys have a distribution in the local magnetic coupling and ordering temperature, which can be explained by nanoscale composition variations. We use competing anisotropies induced by the substrate and an applied field during growth to probe the Co concentration distribution. Only regions with high enough Co concentration develop a magnetic anisotropy along the magnetic field during growth, whereas regions of low Co concentration have an anisotropy dictated by the substrate. A Gaussian distribution in the Co concentration of width 5.1 at.% is obtained from the variation in anisotropy. The results demonstrate the importance of composition variations for emergent magnetic properties and have far reaching implications for the properties of disordered materials in general.

Amorphous metals have unusual magnetic properties that arise due to the disordered atomic arrangement. We show that Co-x(Al70Zr30)(100-x) (65 < x < 92 at.%) amorphous alloys have a distribution in the local magnetic coupling and ordering temperature, which can be explained by nanoscale composition variations. We use competing anisotropies induced by the substrate and an applied field during growth to probe the Co concentration distribution. Only regions with high enough Co concentration develop a magnetic anisotropy along the magnetic field during growth, whereas regions of low Co concentration have an anisotropy dictated by the substrate. A Gaussian distribution in the Co concentration of width 5.1 at.% is obtained from the variation in anisotropy. The results demonstrate the importance of composition variations for emergent magnetic properties and have far reaching implications for the properties of disordered materials in general.

Amorphous metals have unusual magnetic properties that arise due to the disordered atomic arrangement. We show that Co-x(Al70Zr30)(100-x) (65 < x < 92 at.%) amorphous alloys have a distribution in the local magnetic coupling and ordering temperature, which can be explained by nanoscale composition variations. We use competing anisotropies induced by the substrate and an applied field during growth to probe the Co concentration distribution. Only regions with high enough Co concentration develop a magnetic anisotropy along the magnetic field during growth, whereas regions of low Co concentration have an anisotropy dictated by the substrate. A Gaussian distribution in the Co concentration of width 5.1 at.% is obtained from the variation in anisotropy. The results demonstrate the importance of composition variations for emergent magnetic properties and have far reaching implications for the properties of disordered materials in general.

Amorphous metals have unusual magnetic properties that arise due to the disordered atomic arrangement. We show that Co-x(Al70Zr30)(100-x) (65 < x < 92 at.%) amorphous alloys have a distribution in the local magnetic coupling and ordering temperature, which can be explained by nanoscale composition variations. We use competing anisotropies induced by the substrate and an applied field during growth to probe the Co concentration distribution. Only regions with high enough Co concentration develop a magnetic anisotropy along the magnetic field during growth, whereas regions of low Co concentration have an anisotropy dictated by the substrate. A Gaussian distribution in the Co concentration of width 5.1 at.% is obtained from the variation in anisotropy. The results demonstrate the importance of composition variations for emergent magnetic properties and have far reaching implications for the properties of disordered materials in general.

We study the magnetic coupling in a thin film bilayer exchange-spring magnet composed of an amorphous Tb10Co90 layer with a large perpendicular anisotropy and an amorphous Co-85(Al70Zr30)(15) layer with uniaxial inplane anisotropy. The CoAlZr is directly exchange coupled to the TbCo with an interface region of at least 7.5 nm within which the CoAlZr magnetization is perpendicular to the plane and switches with the underlying TbCo. The influence of the coupling extends up to 30 nm into the CoAlZr resulting in an effective tilted anisotropy. The coercivity of the CoAlZr is greatly enhanced due to the coupling and is tuneable over a large range by varying its thickness.

Here we study the magnetic proximity effect in amorphous layered magnets of alternating high- and low-T-c materials using magnetometry and polarized neutron reflectivity. By altering the thickness of either the high-or low-T-c layer we are able to extract the induced magnetic moment in the low-T-c layer directly and study how it scales with thickness. We observe that the ordering temperature of the low-T-c layer is enhanced and above which a second magnetically ordered state with a very large extension is observed. This induced magnetic state survives to a temperature at least three times that of the ordering temperature of the low-T-c layer and the induced magnetization is approximately constant throughout at least a 10-nm-thick layer. The induced magnetic region within the low-T-c layer does not depend on the thickness of the adjacent high-T-c layer.