Element specific spin and orbital moments of nanoscale CoFeB amorphous thin films on GaAs(100)

Yu Yan; Cong Lu; Hongqing Tu; Xianyang Lu; Wenqing Liu; Junlin Wang; Lei Ye; Iain Will; Balati Kuerbanjiang; Vlado K. Lazarov; Jing Wu; Johnny Wong; Biao You; Jun Du; Rong Zhang; Yongbing Xu

doi:10.1063/1.4962994

AIP Advances (Sep 2016)

Element specific spin and orbital moments of nanoscale CoFeB amorphous thin films on GaAs(100)

Yu Yan,
Cong Lu,
Hongqing Tu,
Xianyang Lu,
Wenqing Liu,
Junlin Wang,
Lei Ye,
Iain Will,
Balati Kuerbanjiang,
Vlado K. Lazarov,
Jing Wu,
Johnny Wong,
Biao You,
Jun Du,
Rong Zhang,
Yongbing Xu

Affiliations

Yu Yan: York-Nanjing International Center of Spintronics (YNICS), Jiangsu Provincial Key Laboratory of Advanced Photonic and Electronic Material, Jiangsu Procincial Key Laboratory for Nanotechnology, School of Electronic Science and Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China
Cong Lu: Spintronics and Nanodevice laboratory, Department of Electronics, University of York, YO10 5DD, United Kingdom
Hongqing Tu: National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures and Department of Physics, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China
Xianyang Lu: Department of Physics, University of York, YO10 5DD, United Kingdom
Wenqing Liu: York-Nanjing International Center of Spintronics (YNICS), Jiangsu Provincial Key Laboratory of Advanced Photonic and Electronic Material, Jiangsu Procincial Key Laboratory for Nanotechnology, School of Electronic Science and Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China
Junlin Wang: Spintronics and Nanodevice laboratory, Department of Electronics, University of York, YO10 5DD, United Kingdom
Lei Ye: College of Communication Engineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044, China
Iain Will: Spintronics and Nanodevice laboratory, Department of Electronics, University of York, YO10 5DD, United Kingdom
Balati Kuerbanjiang: Department of Physics, University of York, YO10 5DD, United Kingdom
Vlado K. Lazarov: Department of Physics, University of York, YO10 5DD, United Kingdom
Jing Wu: York-Nanjing International Center of Spintronics (YNICS), Jiangsu Provincial Key Laboratory of Advanced Photonic and Electronic Material, Jiangsu Procincial Key Laboratory for Nanotechnology, School of Electronic Science and Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China
Johnny Wong: York-Nanjing International Center of Spintronics (YNICS), Jiangsu Provincial Key Laboratory of Advanced Photonic and Electronic Material, Jiangsu Procincial Key Laboratory for Nanotechnology, School of Electronic Science and Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China
Biao You: National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures and Department of Physics, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China
Jun Du: National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures and Department of Physics, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China
Rong Zhang: York-Nanjing International Center of Spintronics (YNICS), Jiangsu Provincial Key Laboratory of Advanced Photonic and Electronic Material, Jiangsu Procincial Key Laboratory for Nanotechnology, School of Electronic Science and Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China
Yongbing Xu: York-Nanjing International Center of Spintronics (YNICS), Jiangsu Provincial Key Laboratory of Advanced Photonic and Electronic Material, Jiangsu Procincial Key Laboratory for Nanotechnology, School of Electronic Science and Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4962994
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 6, no. 9
pp. 095011 – 095011-7

Abstract

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CoFeB amorphous films have been synthesized on GaAs(100) and studied with X-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). We have found that the ratios of the orbital to spin magnetic moments of both the Co and Fe in the ultrathin amorphous film have been enhanced by more than 300% compared with those of the bulk crystalline Co and Fe, and specifically a large orbital moment of 0.56 μB from the Co atoms has been observed and at the same time the spin moment of the Co atoms remains comparable to that of the bulk hcp Co. The results indicate that the large uniaxial magnetic anisotropy (UMA) observed in the ultrathin CoFeB film on GaAs(100) is related to the enhanced spin-orbital coupling of the Co atoms in the CoFeB. This work offers experimental evidences of the correlation between the UMA and the element specific spin and orbital moments in the CoFeB amorphous film on the GaAs(100) substrate, which is of significance for spintronics applications.

Published in AIP Advances

ISSN: 2158-3226 (Online)
Publisher: AIP Publishing LLC
Country of publisher: United States
LCC subjects: Science: Physics
Website: http://aipadvances.aip.org/

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