Control of Structural and Magnetic Properties of Polycrystalline Co2FeGe Films via Deposition and Annealing Temperatures

• Published in: Nanomaterials (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 11; no. 5; p. 1229
• Main Authors: Vovk, Andrii, Bunyaev, Sergey A., Štrichovanec, Pavel, Vovk, Nikolay R., Postolnyi, Bogdan, Apolinario, Arlete, Pardo, José Ángel, Algarabel, Pedro Antonio, Kakazei, Gleb N., Araujo, João Pedro
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 07.05.2021; MDPI
• Subjects: Alloys; Annealing; Coercivity; Crystal structure; Damping; Deposition; Ferromagnetic materials; Ferromagnetic resonance; Glass substrates; Heusler alloys; Intermetallic compounds; Magnetic fields; Magnetic properties; Magnetic saturation; Magnetization; magnetostatic properties; Magnetron sputtering; Physical properties; Polycrystals; Stoichiometry; Substrates; Thin films; United States > US; Japan
• ISSN: 2079-4991; 2079-4991
• DOI: 10.3390/nano11051229

Thin polycrystalline Co2FeGe films with composition close to stoichiometry have been fabricated using magnetron co-sputtering technique. Effects of substrate temperature (TS) and post-deposition annealing (Ta) on structure, static and dynamic magnetic properties were systematically studied. It is shown that elevated TS (Ta) promote formation of ordered L21 crystal structure. Variation of TS (Ta) allow modification of magnetic properties in a broad range. Saturation magnetization ~920 emu/cm3 and low magnetization damping parameter α ~ 0.004 were achieved for TS = 573 K. This in combination with soft ferromagnetic properties (coercivity below 6 Oe) makes the films attractive candidates for spin-transfer torque and magnonic devices.