Coexistence of Low Damping and Strong Magnetoelastic Coupling in Epitaxial Spinel Ferrite Thin Films

Abstract

Low‐loss magnetization dynamics and strong magnetoelastic coupling are generally mutually exclusive properties due to opposing dependencies on spin–orbit interactions. So far, the lack of low‐damping, magnetostrictive ferrite films has hindered the development of power‐efficient magnetoelectric and acoustic spintronic devices. Here, magnetically soft epitaxial spinel NiZnAl‐ferrite thin films with an unusually low Gilbert damping parameter (−3), as well as strong magnetoelastic coupling evidenced by a giant strain‐induced anisotropy field (≈1 T) and a sizable magnetostriction coefficient (≈10 ppm), are reported. This exceptional combination of low intrinsic damping and substantial magnetostriction arises from the cation chemistry of NiZnAl‐ferrite. At the same time, the coherently strained film structure suppresses extrinsic damping, enables soft magnetic behavior, and generates large easy‐plane magnetoelastic anisotropy. These findings provide a foundation for a new class of low‐loss, magnetoelastic thin film materials that are promising for spin‐mechanical devices.

Document Details

Document Type
Pub Defense Publication
Publication Date
Jul 10, 2017
Source ID
10.1002/adma.201701130

Entities

People

  • Albrecht Jander
  • Alexander C. Bornstein
  • Alpha T. N'Diaye
  • Benjamin A. Gray
  • Brandon M. Howe
  • David G. Cahill
  • Dongyao Li
  • Elke Arenholz
  • Fengyuan Yang
  • Greg Haugstad
  • Hyung‐min Jeon
  • Joseph Peoples
  • K. Mahalingam
  • Keng-Yuan Meng
  • Madelyn Hill
  • Matthew T. Gray
  • Maxwell Schmitt
  • Michael E. McConney
  • Nian X. Sun
  • Padraic Shafer
  • Pallavi Dhagat
  • Satoru Emori
  • Sushant Mahat
  • Urusa S. Alaan
  • Yuri Suzuki

Organizations

  • Air Force Office of Scientific Research
  • Air Force Research Laboratory
  • Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
  • National Science Foundation
  • Northeastern University
  • Office of Naval Research
  • Ohio State University
  • Oregon State University
  • Stanford University
  • United States Department of Energy
  • University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign
  • University of Minnesota
  • Wright State University

Tags

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Materials Science and Engineering.
  • Quantum Dot Semiconductor Device Photonics and Graphene Optoelectronic Materials and THz Physics.

Technology Areas

  • Microelectronics
  • Microelectronics - Graphene
  • Microelectronics - Microelectromechanical Systems
  • Space