Modulation of Magnetic Properties at the Nanometer Scale in Continuously Graded Ferromagnets

Abstract: Ferromagnetic alloy materials with designed composition depth profiles provide an efficient route for the control of magnetism at the nanometer length scale. In this regard, cobalt-chromium and cobalt-ruthenium alloys constitute powerful model systems. They exhibit easy-to-tune magnetic properties such as saturation magnetization MS and Curie temperature TC while preserving their crystalline structure over a wide composition range. In order to demonstrate this materials design potential, we have grown a series of graded Co₁-xCrx and Co₁-wRuw (1010) epitaxial thin films, with x and w following predefined concentration profiles. Structural analysis measurements verify the epitaxial nature and crystallographic quality of our entire sample sets, which were designed to exhibit in-plane c-axis orientation and thus a magnetic in-plane easy axis to achieve suppression of magnetostatic domain generation. Temperature and field-dependent magnetic depth profiles have been measured by means of polarized neutron reflectometry. In both investigated structures, TC and MS are found to vary as a function of depth in accordance with the predefined compositional depth profiles. Our Co₁-wRuw sample structures, which exhibit very steep material gradients, allow us to determine the localization limit for compositionally graded materials, which we find to be of the order of 1 nm. The Co₁-xCrx systems show the expected U-shaped TC and MS depth profiles, for which these specific samples were designed. The corresponding temperature dependent magnetization profile is then utilized to control the coupling along the film depth, which even allows for a sharp onset of decoupling of top and bottom sample parts at elevated temperatures.