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Perpendicular ferromagnetic resonance measurements of damping and Landé g-factor in sputtered (Co2Mn)1-xGex thin films

Published

Author(s)

Thomas J. Silva, Hans T. Nembach, Justin M. Shaw, Michael Schneider, Matt Carey, Stefan Maat, Jeff Childress

Abstract

X-ray diffraction (XRD), magnetometry, and ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) measurements were performed on sputtered thin films of the nominal Heusler alloy (Co2Mn)1-xGex with varying Ge content and annealing temperature. XRD indicates some degree of L21 alloy formation, with strong (110) texturing. FMR data indicate significant increase in linewidth for samples that lack a well defined (220) peak, presumably as a result of inhomogeneous line broadening. Samples annealed at 200°C exhibit decreasing Landau-Lifshitz damping with increasing Ge content. Samples annealed at 245°C and 300°C exhibit a nonlinear dependence of linewidth on frequency. The nonlinear component of the linewidth data was successfully fit with a generalized theory of slowly relaxing impurities, originally proposed by Van Vleck and Orbach. The modified theory includes the possibility of transverse coherence during the relaxation process. Magnetometry and FMR spectroscopy results were analyzed in the context of Malozemoff's generalized Slater-Pauling (GSP) theory, with the conclusion that the Ge sites support a significant negative polarized spin density of several 10's of percent. The GSP analysis results were consistent with a more conventional analysis of the spectroscopic g-factor that is appropriate for alloys. The proportionality of the strength of the slow relaxer contribution to the damping suggests that the negative polarized Ge atoms are acting as the slowly relaxing impurities in question.
Citation
Physical Review B
Volume
84
Issue
5

Keywords

Heusler alloy, ferromagnetic resonance, damping, X-ray diffraction, spectroscopic splitting factor

Citation

Silva, T. , Nembach, H. , Shaw, J. , Schneider, M. , Carey, M. , Maat, S. and Childress, J. (2011), Perpendicular ferromagnetic resonance measurements of damping and Land&#233; g-factor in sputtered (Co<sub>2</sub>Mn)<sub>1-x</sub>Ge<sub>x</sub> thin films, Physical Review B (Accessed March 18, 2024)
Created August 8, 2011, Updated February 19, 2017