Large anisotropic Fe orbital moments in perpendicularly magnetized Co 2FeAl Heusler alloy thin films revealed by angular-dependent x-ray magnetic circular dichroism

Jun Okabayashi; Hiroaki Sukegawa; Zhenchao Wen; Koichiro Inomata; Seiji Mitani

doi:10.1063/1.4819915

Large anisotropic Fe orbital moments in perpendicularly magnetized Co ₂FeAl Heusler alloy thin films revealed by angular-dependent x-ray magnetic circular dichroism

Jun Okabayashi, Hiroaki Sukegawa, Zhenchao Wen, Koichiro Inomata, Seiji Mitani

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

35 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) in Heusler alloy Co₂FeAl thin films sharing an interface with a MgO layer is investigated by angular-dependent x-ray magnetic circular dichroism. Orbital and spin magnetic moments are deduced separately for Fe and Co 3d electrons. In addition, the PMA energies are estimated using the orbital magnetic moments parallel and perpendicular to the film surfaces. We found that PMA in Co₂FeAl is determined mainly by the contribution of Fe atoms with large orbital magnetic moments, which are enhanced at the interface between Co₂FeAl and MgO. Furthermore, element specific magnetization curves of Fe and Co are found to be similar, suggesting the existence of ferromagnetic coupling between Fe and Co PMA directions.

Original language	English
Article number	102402
Journal	Applied Physics Letters
Volume	103
Issue number	10
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4819915
Publication status	Published - 2013 Sept 2
Externally published	Yes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Physics and Astronomy (miscellaneous)

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title = "Large anisotropic Fe orbital moments in perpendicularly magnetized Co 2FeAl Heusler alloy thin films revealed by angular-dependent x-ray magnetic circular dichroism",

abstract = "Perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) in Heusler alloy Co2FeAl thin films sharing an interface with a MgO layer is investigated by angular-dependent x-ray magnetic circular dichroism. Orbital and spin magnetic moments are deduced separately for Fe and Co 3d electrons. In addition, the PMA energies are estimated using the orbital magnetic moments parallel and perpendicular to the film surfaces. We found that PMA in Co2FeAl is determined mainly by the contribution of Fe atoms with large orbital magnetic moments, which are enhanced at the interface between Co2FeAl and MgO. Furthermore, element specific magnetization curves of Fe and Co are found to be similar, suggesting the existence of ferromagnetic coupling between Fe and Co PMA directions.",

author = "Jun Okabayashi and Hiroaki Sukegawa and Zhenchao Wen and Koichiro Inomata and Seiji Mitani",

note = "Funding Information: The authors thank Professor M. Shirai for the fruitful discussion. This work was partly supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (A) (Grant No. 24686007) from Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. Synchrotron radiation experiments were performed under the approval of the Photon Factory Program Advisory Committee, KEK (No. 2012G657).",

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T1 - Large anisotropic Fe orbital moments in perpendicularly magnetized Co 2FeAl Heusler alloy thin films revealed by angular-dependent x-ray magnetic circular dichroism

AU - Okabayashi, Jun

AU - Sukegawa, Hiroaki

AU - Wen, Zhenchao

AU - Inomata, Koichiro

AU - Mitani, Seiji

N1 - Funding Information: The authors thank Professor M. Shirai for the fruitful discussion. This work was partly supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (A) (Grant No. 24686007) from Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. Synchrotron radiation experiments were performed under the approval of the Photon Factory Program Advisory Committee, KEK (No. 2012G657).

PY - 2013/9/2

Y1 - 2013/9/2

N2 - Perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) in Heusler alloy Co2FeAl thin films sharing an interface with a MgO layer is investigated by angular-dependent x-ray magnetic circular dichroism. Orbital and spin magnetic moments are deduced separately for Fe and Co 3d electrons. In addition, the PMA energies are estimated using the orbital magnetic moments parallel and perpendicular to the film surfaces. We found that PMA in Co2FeAl is determined mainly by the contribution of Fe atoms with large orbital magnetic moments, which are enhanced at the interface between Co2FeAl and MgO. Furthermore, element specific magnetization curves of Fe and Co are found to be similar, suggesting the existence of ferromagnetic coupling between Fe and Co PMA directions.

AB - Perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) in Heusler alloy Co2FeAl thin films sharing an interface with a MgO layer is investigated by angular-dependent x-ray magnetic circular dichroism. Orbital and spin magnetic moments are deduced separately for Fe and Co 3d electrons. In addition, the PMA energies are estimated using the orbital magnetic moments parallel and perpendicular to the film surfaces. We found that PMA in Co2FeAl is determined mainly by the contribution of Fe atoms with large orbital magnetic moments, which are enhanced at the interface between Co2FeAl and MgO. Furthermore, element specific magnetization curves of Fe and Co are found to be similar, suggesting the existence of ferromagnetic coupling between Fe and Co PMA directions.

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Large anisotropic Fe orbital moments in perpendicularly magnetized Co ₂FeAl Heusler alloy thin films revealed by angular-dependent x-ray magnetic circular dichroism

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