Dresden 2011 – scientific programme

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MA: Fachverband Magnetismus

MA 52: Magnetic Thin Films III

MA 52.5: Talk

Thursday, March 17, 2011, 12:00–12:15, HSZ 403

Anisotropic magnetorestistance and magnetic anisotropy of Heusler compound thin films — •Matthias Althammer¹, Alexander T. Krupp¹, Franz D. Czeschka¹, Matthias Opel¹, Inga-Mareen Imort², Günter Reiss², Andy Thomas², Rudolf Gross¹, and Sebastian T. B. Goennenwein¹ — ¹Walther-Meißner-Institut, Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Garching, Germany — ²Fakultät für Physik, Universität Bielefeld, Bielefeld, Germany

Magnetic anisotropy is of fundamental importance in ferromagnets, as it strongly influences their properties. Using anisotropic magnetoresistance (AMR) measurements, we investigate the magnetic anisotropy of the ferromagnetic Heusler compound Co₂FeAl. Thin Co₂FeAl films grown on (001)-oriented MgO substrate were patterned into Hall-bar mesa structures via optical lithography and etching. To quantify the magnetic anisotropy, we recorded the angle dependent magnetoresistance (ADMR), i.e., the AMR as a function of magnetic field orientation for different magnetic field magnitudes |H|. From the ADMR data taken at high |H|, the resistivity coefficients are obtained. The magnetic anisotropy is then extracted from ADMR taken at lower |H|. We will quantitatively compare the resistivity coefficients and the magnetic anisotropy in Co₂FeAl thin films with thicknesses of 20 nm, 50 nm, 80 nm, 100 nm, as a function of temperature from 5 K to 350 K.

Financial support by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft via project GO 944/3-1 and the NRW MIWF is gratefully acknowledged.