Effect of Ag Addition on the Microstructure and Magnetic Properties of FePt Thin Films

FePt thin films and [FePt/Ag]n multilayer thin films were prepared by magnetron sputtering technique and subsequent annealing process. By comparing the microstructure and magnetic properties of these two kinds of thin films, effects of Ag addition on the structure and properties of FePt thin films were investigated. Proper Ag addition was found helpful for FePt phase transition at lower annealing temperature. With Ag addition, the magnetic domain pattern of FePt thin film changed from maze-like pattern to more discrete island-like domain pattern in [FePt/Ag]n multilayer thin films. In addition, introducing nonmagnetic Ag hindered FePt grains from growing larger. The in-depth defects in FePt films and [FePt/Ag]n multilayer films verify that Ag addition is attributed to a large number of pinning site defects in [FePt/Ag]n film and therefore has effects on its magnetic properties and microstructure.

Effect of chromium interlayer on magnetic exchange coupling of SmCo/Cr/TbFeCo multilayer thin films

A series of SmCo/Cr/TbFeCo multilayer thin films with perpendicular anisotropy were prepared by RF- magnetron sputtering system, and the effects of Cr interlayer thickness on magnetic properties and interlayer exchange coupling were investigated. It was found that the magnetic properties varied with the thickness of Cr interlayer, especially the values of saturation magnetization Ms and the coercivity Hc fluctuated periodically with the thickness of Cr interlayer. STM images revealed that the variation of coercivity Hc was attributed to the microstructure change of SmCo layer influenced by Cr interlayer, and the variation of Ms was related to interlayer exchange coupling.

The effect of multilayer structure on magnetic properties of FePt thin films

The Fe/Pt multilayer films with different structures were deposited by RF magnetron sputtering on glass substrates, and the L10-FePt films were obtained after the asdeposited samples were subjected to vacuum annealing at various temperatures. Results show that the Fe/Pt multilayer structure can effectively reduce the ordering temperature of FePt film, and the in-plane coercivity of [Fe （5.2 nm）/Pt （5.2 nm）]7 multilayers can reach 161.2 kA/m after annealed at 350℃ for 30 min. When Fe and Pt layer thickness is equal, the coercivity of the film is the largest. On the other hand, the different Fe-Pt crystalline phases such as Fe3Pt and FePt3 phases are formed after annealing when the thickness ratio of Fe/Pt deviates from 1 after annealing. When Fe and Pt have the same thickness, the thinner single layer gets the lower ordering temperature and the larger coercivity.

Preparation of Large Area Double Sided YBCO Thin Films by DC Magneton Sputtering

Tc, Jc and Rs properties of large area double sided YBCO thin films deposited on LaAlO3 substrates by direct current sputtering were reported.Film thickness of the obtained thin films is over 300 nm, Tc > 90 K; Rs can be as low as less than 1.0 mΩ(77 K, 10 GHz).Homogenousity of the properties around the plane was studied.Under the measnous distributions.Influences of substrate temperature and Ar and O2 pressures on properties of the double-sided thin films were discussed.

Phase Transition in Superconducting Thin Films of Tl System Employing a One-Zone Furnace and Deposited by Spray Pyrolysis

A study of the phase transitions in superconducting thin films of the Thallium-Barium-Calcium-Copper (TBCCO) system is carried out. In particular, it was got the Tl-1223 phase. For this purpose, and using the ultrasonic spray pyrolysis technique, Barium-Calcium-Copper precursor films were first obtained. Upon deposition of the precursor films, and as a second step, they were thallium (Tl) diffused in the one-zone furnace at 860°C. This methodology resulted in superconducting films that showed a phase transition as follows: Tl-2223 → Tl-2223 + Tl-2212 → Tl-2212 → Tl-1223, achieved between 2 and 7 hours of thallium diffusion. The evidence of the phase transitions was corroborated by the experimental results of X-ray diffraction, energy dispersive spectroscopy and resistance-temperature measurements.

Common Electronic Features and Electronic Nematicity in Parent Compounds of Iron-Based Superconductors and FeSe/SrTiO_3 Films Revealed by Angle-Resolved Photoemission Spectroscopy

We report comprehensive angle-resolved photoemission investigations on the electronic structures and nematicity of the parent compounds of the iron-based superconductors including CeFeAsO, BaFe2As2, NaFeAs, FeSe and undoped FeSe/SrTiO3 films with 1, 2 and 20 layers. While the electronic structure near tile Brillouin zone center F varies dramatically among different materials, the electronic structure near the Brillouin zone corners （M points）, as well as their temperature dependence, are rather similar. The electronic structure near the zone corners is dominated by the electronic nematicity that gives rise to a band splitting of the dxz and dyz bands below the nematie transition temperature. A clear relation is observed between the band splitting magnitude arid the onset temperature of nematicity. Our results may shed light on the origin of nematicity, its effect on the electronic structures, and its relation with superconductivity in the iron-based superconductors.

The interface density dependence of the electrical properties of 0.9Pb(Sc_(0.5)Ta_(0.5))O_3–0.1PbTiO_3/0.55Pb(Sc_(0.5)Ta_(0.5))O_3–0.45PbTiO_3 multilayer thin films

The 0.9Pb（Sc0.5Ta0.5）O3-0.1PbTiO3/0.55Pb（Sc0.5Ta0.5）O3-0.45 PbTiO3 multilayer thin films（（PSTT10/45）n, n = 1-6, 10） are deposited on SiO2/Si（100） substrates by radio frequency magnetron sputtering technique with La Ni O3 buffer and electrode layer, and the films are subsequently annealed by a two-step rapid thermal approach. It is found that the interfacial density of the film has an important influence on the electric property of the film. The electric property of the film increases and reaches its critical point with the increase of interface density, and then decreases with the further increase of the interface density. With an interfacial density of 16 μm-1, the film shows an optimized dielectric property（high dielectric constant, εr = 765, lowest dielectric loss, tan δ = 0.041, at 1 k Hz） and ferroelectric property（highest remnant polarization,2Pr = 36.9 μC/cm2, low coercive field, 2Ec = 71.9 k V/cm）. The possible reason for the electric behavior of the film is the competition of the interface stress with the interface defect.

Preparation of Y_(1-x)Ho_xBa_2Cu_3O_(7-δ) Superconductive Thin Films

Y_(1-x)Ho_xBa_2Cu_3O_(7-δ)(0<x<1) sinsle crystal thin films oriented with the caxis perpendicular to the sur-face were grown by DC magnetron sputtering technique. Target was pieced together with half of YBa_2Cu_3O_(7-δ)(YBCO) and half of HoBa_2Cu_3O_(7-δ)(HBCO) superconducting materials. As the distance between HBCO targetmaterial and substrate is varied , the Ho content in material is changed respectively. When the content of Ho is0. 7 (atom ratio) , the T_c>83K.

Microstructural Characteristics of La_(0.7)Ca_(0.3)MnO_3 Films and Multilayers

La0.7Ca0.3MnO3 (LCMO) films and La0.7Ca0.3MnO3/Gd0.7Ca0.3MnO3 (LCMO/GCMO) multilayers have been prepared by pulsed laser deposition. The microstructures of both systems were investigated by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The main structure of the films and the multilayers was monoclinic with a unit cell of size 2ap x-2ap. x -2ap, where ap is the lattice constant of single perovskite crystal. The LCMO films were composed of three-dimension multitwinning domains, while the LCMO/GCMO multilayers showed two-domain structure. In LCMO/GCMO multilayers, LCMO layers were coherent with GCMO layers and the interfaces between LCMO and GCMO layers were free from mismatch dislocation, which resulted in highly strained multilayerd structures.

Synthesis and Characterization of Ag Nanoparticles Addition on BPSCCO Superconducting Thin Films

The growth of epitaxial Ag nanoparticles doped (Bi, Pb)-2223 thin films on Si (111) substrates by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) and post-deposition oxygen annealing have been achieved. The phase identification and gross structural characteristics of synthesized films explored through X-ray diffractometer reveal that all the samples crystallize in orthorhombic structure. DC electrical resistivity measurements were done by the standard four-probe method and the results showed improvement in Tc by increasing Ag nanoparticles to 1.0 wt% which had a maximum enhancement in Tc for all investigated films. The surface morphology investigated through scanning electron microscope (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) results showed that an increase in Tc with the appropriate Ag nanoparticles addition in the samples is associated with the enhancement of Bi (Pb)-2223 phase formation.

Characteristics of Sb6Te4/VO2 Multilayer Thin Films for Good Stability and Ultrafast Speed Applied in Phase Change Memory

The Sb6 Te4/VO2 multilayer thin films are prepared by magnetron sputtering and the potential application in phase change memory is investigated in detail. Compared with Sb6 Te4, Sb6 Te4/VO2 multilayer composite thin films have higher phase change temperature and crystallization resistance, indicating better thermal stability and less power consumption. Also, Sb6 Te4/VO2 has a broader energy band of 1.58 eV and better data retention （125℃ for 103/）. The crystallization is suppressed by the multilayer interfaces in Sbf Te4/VO2 thin film with a smaller rms surface roughness for Sbf Te4/VO2 than monolayer Sb4Te6. The picosecond laser technology is applied to study the phase change speed. A short crystallization time of 5.21 ns is realized for the Sb6Te4 （2nm）/VO2 （8nm） thin film. The Sb6 Te4/VO2 multilayer thin film is a potential and competitive phase change material for its good thermal stability and fast phase change speed.

Multi-layer structures including zigzag sculptured thin films for corrosion protection of AISI 304 stainless steel

To increase corrosion resistance of the sample,its electrical impedance must be increased.Due to the fact that electrical impedance depends on elements such as electrical resistance,capacitance,and inductance,by increasing the electrical resistance,reducing the capacitance and inductance,electrical impedance and corrosion resistance can be increased.Based on the fact that these elements depend on the type of material and the geometry of the material,multilayer structures with different geometries are proposed.For this purpose,conventional multilayer thin films,multilayer thin film including zigzag structure(zigzag 1)and multilayer thin film including double zigzag structure(zigzag 2)of manganese nitride are considered to protect AISI 304 stainless steel against corrosion in salt solution.These multilayer coatings including zigzag structures are prepared by alternately using the conventional deposition of thin film and glancing angle deposition method.After deposition,the samples are placed in a furnace under nitrogen flux for nitriding.The cross sections of the structures are observed by field emission scanning electron microscopy(FESEM).Atomic force microscope(AFM)is used to make surface analyses of the samples.The results show that the multilayer thin films including zigzag structures have smaller grains than conventional multilayer thin films,and the zigzag 2 structure has the smaller grain than the other two samples,which is attributed to the effect of shadowing and porosity on the oblique angle deposition method.Crystallography structures of the samples are studied by using x-ray diffraction(XRD)pattern and the results show that nitride phase formation in zigzag 2 structure is better than that in zigzag 1 structure and conventional multilayer thin film.To investigate the corrosion resistances of the structures,electrochemical impedance spectroscopy(EIS)and potentiodynamic polarization tests are performed.The results reveal that the multilayer thin films with zigzag structures have better corrosion protection than the conventional multilayer thin films,and the zigzag structure 2 has the smallest corrosion current and the highest corrosion resistance.The electrical impedances of the samples are investigated by simulating equivalent circuits.The high corrosion resistance of zigzag 2 structure as compared with conventional multilayer structure and zigzag 1 structure,is attributed to the high electrical impedance of the structure due to its small capacitance and high electrical resistance.Finally,the surfaces of corroded samples are observed by scanning electron microscope(SEM).

Properties of multilayer gallium and aluminum doped ZnO(GZO/AZO) transparent thin films deposited by pulsed laser deposition process

Multilayer gallium and aluminum doped ZnO （GZO/AZO） films were fabricated by alternative deposition of Ga-doped zinc oxide（GZO） and Al-doped zinc oxide（AZO） thin film by using pulsed laser deposition（PLD） process. The electrical and optical properties of these GZO/AZO thin films were investigated and compared with those of GZO and AZO thin films. The GZO/AZO （1：1） thin film deposited at 400 ~C shows the electrical resistivity of 4.18 x 10 4 ~.cm, an electron concentration of 7.5 x 1020/cm3, and carrier mobility of 25.4 cm2/（V.s）. The optical transmittances of GZO/AZO thin films are over 85%. The optical band gap energy of GZO/AZO thin films linearly decreases with increasing the AI ratio.

Microstructures and magnetic properties of [SiO_2/FePt]_5/Ag thin films

[SiO2/FePt]5/Ag thin films were deposited by RF magnetron sputtering on the glass substrates and post annealing at 550 ℃ for 30 min in vacuum. Vibrating sample magnetometer and X-ray diffraction analyser were applied to study the magnetic properties and microstructures of the films. The results show that without Ag underlayer [SiO2/FePt]5 films deposited onto the glass are FCC disordered; with the addition of Ag underlayer [SiO]FePt]5/Ag films are changed into L10 and （111） mixed texture. The variation of the SiO2 nonmagnetic layer thickness in [SiO2/FePt]5/Ag films indicates that SiO2-doping plays an important role in improving the order parameter and the perpendicular magnetic anisotropy, and reducing the grain size and intergrain interactions. By controlling SiO2 thickness the highly perpendicular magnetic anisotropy can be obtained in the [SiO2 （0.6 nm）/FePt （3 nm）]5/Ag （50 nm） films and highly （001）-oriented films can be obtained in the [SiO2 （2 nm）/FePt （3 nm）]5/Ag （50 nm） films.

Effect of Post Annealing on the Microstructure and Magnetic Properties of NdFeB/α-Fe/NdFeB Thin Films

A series of nanocomposite thin films, composed of Nd2Fe14B and α-Fe, has been prepared by DC-magnetron sputtering combined ion beam sputtering onto Si (100) substrates. The effects of post annealing on the microstructure and magnetic properties of [NdFeB/α-Fe/NdFeB]-type thin films have been investigated. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) study showed that annealing of the films for 30 min at temperatures 550, 600, 650, 700 ℃ resulted in the appearance of diffraction peaks, characteristic for Nd2Fe14B tetragonal structure, α-Fe and Nd2O3 phases. The investigation using the Vibrating Sample Magnetometer (VSM) with a maximum applied field of 2 T indicated that with the increase of the annealing temperature, the magnetic properties of the multilayer films were improved and reached peak value at 650 ℃ (Hci=41.72 kA·m-1, Mr/Ms=0.4, (BH)max=30.35 kJ·m-3), after which the magnetic properties were decreased greatly. Along with the increase of the thickness of α-Fe layer from Tα-Fe>16 nm, the coercivity Hci, saturation magnetization Ms, and remanence ratio Mr/Ms all declined. As the Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) indicated, after being annealed at 650 ℃ for 30 min, the sample was showed fine surface morphology with grain size 60 nm≤dα-Fe≤80 nm and 100 nm≤dNdFeB≤150 nm.

Influence of magnetic layer thickness on[Fe_(80)Ni_(20) O/SiO_2]_n multilayer thin films

In the present work, a series of [FesoNi20-O/SiO2]n multilayer thin films is fabricated using a reactive magnetron sputtering equipment. The thickness of SiO2 interlayer is fixed at 3 nm, while the thickness values of FesoNi20-O magnetic films range from 10 nm to 30 nm. All films present obvious in-plane uniaxial magnetic anisotropy. With increasing the FesoNi20-O layer thickness, the saturation magnetization increases slightly and the coercivity becomes larger due to the enlarged grain size, which could weaken the soft magnetic property. The results of high frequency magnetic permeability characterization show that films with thin magnetic layer are more suitable for practical applications. When the thickness of FesoNi20-O layer is 10 nm, the multilayer film exhibits the most comprehensive high-frequency magnetic property with a real permeability of 300 in gigahertz range.

Development of a Low Cost Pulsed Laser Deposition System for Thin Films Growth

.Pulsed Laser Deposition (PLD) is a powerful technique to grow thin films. Oxides, Magnetics and superconducting materials have been obtained by PLD and theirs properties are strongly dependent of deposition parameters. The construction of a simple and cheap PLD system that is suitable for growing various thin films, including magnetic materials, controlling some deposition parameters is presented. The design characteristics and construction are presented for each one of the devices that compose this PLD system. The equipment has the possibility of carrying out films deposition using up to five targets under controlled atmosphere and substrate temperature. The system also allows controlling the cool off sample time after growing up films at high temperatures. A wide range of relative speeds between target and substrate axial rotation can be externally controlled. With the configuration and the dimensions adopted in their construction, a PLD system of great experimental flexibility is achieved, at a very low cost regarding the commercial systems. To evaluate their performance and effectiveness, the deposition characteristics of a BaFe12O19 film on (0001) sapphire substrate is presented.

Improvement of epitaxy and crystallinity in YBa_2Cu_3O_y thin films grown on silicon with double buffer of ECO/YSZ

A novel double buffer of Eu2CuO4 (ECO)/YSZ (yttrium-stabilized zirconia) was developed for growing YBa2Cu3Oy (YBCO) thin films on Si substrates. In these films, the severe reaction between Si and YBCO is blocked by the first YSZ layer, whereas, the degradation of crystallinity and superconductivity in the grown YBCO is greatly improved by the second ECO layer. Such an ECO material possesses a very stable 214-T’ structure and excellent compatibilities with YBCO and YSZ. The result shows that the epitaxy and crystallinity of YBCO deposited on Si could be considerably enhanced by using the ECO/YSZ double buffer. The grown films are characterized by high-resolution X-ray diffraction, grazing incidence X-ray reflection, and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), respectively. It is found that well defined interfaces are formed at YBCO/ECO/YSZ boundaries. No immediate layer could be seen. The defect density in all grown layers is kept at a lower level. The YBCO film surface turns out to be very smooth. These films have full superconducting transitions above 88 K and high current carrying capacity at 77 K. The successful growth of highly epitaxial YBCO thin films on silicon with ECO/YSZ buffer, demonstrate the advantages of such a double buffer structure.