Correlation between local structure and magnetic behavior in co-sputtered TbxFe73Ga27¿x (7 ¿ x ¿ 11) thin films Articles uri icon

authors

  • MUÑOZ NOVAL, ALVARO
  • SALAS COLERA, EDUARDO
  • BARTOLOMÉ, PABLO
  • SERRANO, A.
  • CASTRO, GERMÁN RAFAEL
  • RANCHAL, ROCÍO

publication date

  • December 2017

start page

  • 352

end page

  • 357

volume

  • 726

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

  • 0925-8388

Electronic International Standard Serial Number (EISSN)

  • 1873-4669

abstract

  • We report on the evolution of the microstructure of Tb-Fe-Ga films deposited by co-sputtering from Tb33Fe67 and Fe72Ga28 targets. The sputtering power was fixed (90 W) in the Fe72Ga28 whereas it was increased from 50 to 90 W in the Tb33Fe67 target resulting on TbxFe73Ga27−x layers with 7 ≤ x ≤ 11. The local structure was determined by means of x-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy at Fe-K, Ga-K and Tb-L3 edges. The increase of Tb in the alloy promotes the phase segregation that produces a larger amount of the TbFe2 structural phase. The structural results have been correlated with the magnetic characterization that shows the enhancement of the out-of-plane component of the magnetization.

subjects

  • Physics

keywords

  • iron alloys; magnetic properties; sputtering; x-ray absorption fine structure