Magnetostrictive thin films for microwave spintronics

Parkes, D.E.; Shelford, L.R.; Wadley, P.; Holy, V.; Wang, M.; Hindmarch, A.T.; van der Laan, G.; Edmonds, K.W.; Campion, R.P.; Cavill, S.A.; Rushforth, A.W.

Abstract

Multiferroic composite materials, consisting of coupled ferromagnetic and piezoelectric phases, are of great importance in the drive towards creating faster, smaller and more energy efficient devices for information and communications technologies. Such devices require thin ferromagnetic films with large magnetostriction and narrow microwave resonance linewidths. Both properties are often degraded, compared to bulk materials, due to structural imperfections and interface effects in the thin films. We report the development of epitaxial thin films of Galfenol (Fe81Ga19) with magnetostriction as large as the best reported values for bulk material. This allows the magnetic anisotropy and microwave resonant frequency to be tuned by voltage-induced strain, with a larger magnetoelectric response and a narrower linewidth than any previously reported Galfenol thin films. The combination of these properties make epitaxial thin films excellent candidates for developing tunable devices for magnetic information storage, processing and microwave communications.

Citation

Parkes, D., Shelford, L., Wadley, P., Holy, V., Wang, M., Hindmarch, A., van der Laan, G., Edmonds, K., Campion, R., Cavill, S., & Rushforth, A. (2013). Magnetostrictive thin films for microwave spintronics. Scientific Reports, 3, Article 2220. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep02220

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Jul 17, 2013
• Deposit Date: Apr 15, 2014
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 15, 2014
• Journal: Scientific Reports
• Electronic ISSN: 2045-2322
• Publisher: Nature Publishing Group
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 3
• Article Number: 2220
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/srep02220
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/716438
• Publisher URL: http://www.nature.com/srep/2013/130717/srep02220/full/srep02220.html