X-ray analysis of the magnetic influence of oxygen in Pt/Co/AlOx trilayers

A. Manchon (1) , Stefania Pizzini (2) , Jan Vogel (2) , Vojtech Uhlir (2) , L. Lombard (1) , C. Ducruet (1) , S. Auffret (1) , B. Rodmacq (1) , B. Dieny (1) , M. Hochstrasser (3) , G. Panaccione (4)

1 SPINTEC - SPINtronique et TEchnologie des Composants
2 NEEL - MNM - Micro et NanoMagnétisme
3 ETH Zürich - Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule - Swiss Federal Institute of Technology [Zürich]
4 TASC - 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 at the Co/AlOx interface. It is observed that varying the degree of oxidation 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 photoelectron spectroscopy measurements. It is shown that increasing the oxidation time enhances the amount of interfacial oxide, which may be at the origin of perpendicular magnetic anisotropy.

Mots clés: X-ray photoelectron spectra; platinum; magnetic multilayers; oxidation; cobalt; aluminium compounds; perpendicular magnetic anisotropy

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

A. Manchon, Stefania Pizzini, Jan Vogel, Vojtech Uhlir, L. Lombard, et al.. X-ray analysis of the magnetic influence of oxygen in Pt/Co/AlOx trilayers. Journal of Applied Physics, 2008, 103 (7), pp.07A912. ⟨10.1063/1.2829896⟩. ⟨hal-00261227⟩