Growth-Induced In-Plane Uniaxial Anisotropy in V2O3/Ni Films.
- Author(s): Gilbert, Dustin A;
- Ramírez, Juan Gabriel;
- Saerbeck, T;
- Trastoy, J;
- Schuller, Ivan K;
- Liu, Kai;
- de la Venta, J
- et al.
Published Web Location
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-12690-zAbstract
We report on a strain-induced and temperature dependent uniaxial anisotropy in V2O3/Ni hybrid thin films, manifested through the interfacial strain and sample microstructure, and its consequences on the angular dependent magnetization reversal. X-ray diffraction and reciprocal space maps identify the in-plane crystalline axes of the V2O3; atomic force and scanning electron microscopy reveal oriented rips in the film microstructure. Quasi-static magnetometry and dynamic ferromagnetic resonance measurements identify a uniaxial magnetic easy axis along the rips. Comparison with films grown on sapphire without rips shows a combined contribution from strain and microstructure in the V2O3/Ni films. Magnetization reversal characteristics captured by angular-dependent first order reversal curve measurements indicate a strong domain wall pinning along the direction orthogonal to the rips, inducing an angular-dependent change in the reversal mechanism. The resultant anisotropy is tunable with temperature and is most pronounced at room temperature, which is beneficial for potential device applications.