X-Ray Analysis of Oxygen-induced Perpendicular Magnetic Anisotropy in Pt/Co/AlOx trilayer

Aurélien Manchon (1) , Stefania Pizzini (2) , Jan Vogel (2) , Vojteh Uhlir (3) , Lucien Lombard (1) , Clarisse Ducruet (1) , Stéphane Auffret (1) , Bernard Rodmacq (1) , Bernard Dieny (1) , Michael Hochstrasser (4) , Giancarlo Panaccione (5)

1 SPINTEC - SPINtronique et TEchnologie des Composants
2 NEEL - MNM - Micro et NanoMagnétisme
3 NEEL - Institut Néel
4 Laboratory for Solid State Physics
5 Laboratory TASC

X-ray spectroscopy measurements have been performed on a series of Pt/Co/AlOx trilayers to investigate the role of Co oxidation in the perpendicular magnetic anisotropy of the Co/AlOx interface. It is observed that high temperature annealing modifies the magnetic properties of the Co layer, inducing a magnetic anisotropy crossover from in-plane to out-of-plane. The microscopic structural properties are analyzed via X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy, X-ray Magnetic Circular Dichroism and X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy measurements. It is shown that annealing enhances the amount of interfacial oxide, which may be at the origin of the perpendicular magnetic anisotropy.

Domaines: Systèmes mésoscopiques et effet Hall quantique [cond-mat.mes-hall]; Science des matériaux [cond-mat.mtrl-sci]

Aurélien Manchon, Stefania Pizzini, Jan Vogel, Vojteh Uhlir, Lucien Lombard, et al.. X-Ray Analysis of Oxygen-induced Perpendicular Magnetic Anisotropy in Pt/Co/AlOx trilayer. 2007. ⟨hal-00172426v1⟩