Structural and magnetic properties of Co2MnSi thin films

M Belmeguenai (1) , F Zighem (1) , D Faurie (1) , H. Tuzcuoglu (1) , S.-M. Cherif (1) , K Westerholt (2) , W Seiler (3) , P Moch (1)

1 LSPM - Laboratoire des Sciences des Procédés et des Matériaux
2 Institut für Festkörperphysik
3 PIMM - Laboratoire Procédés et Ingénierie en Mécanique et Matériaux

Co2MnSi (CMS) films of different thicknesses (20, 50, and 100 nm) were grown by radio frequency (RF) sputtering on a-plane sapphire substrates. Our X-rays diffraction (XRD) study shows that, in all the samples, the cubic 〈110〉 CMS axis is normal to the substrate and that six well defined preferential in-plane orientations are present. Static and dynamic magnetic properties were investigated using vibrating sample magnetometry (VSM) and microstrip line ferromagnetic resonance (MS-FMR), respectively. From the resonance measurements versus the direction and the amplitude of an applied magnetic field, most of the magnetic parameters are derived, i.e.: the magnetization, the gyromagnetic factor, the exchange stiffness coefficient, and the magnetic anisotropy terms. The in-plane anisotropy results from the superposition of two terms showing a twofold and a fourfold symmetry, respectively. The observed behavior of the hysteresis loops is in agreement with this complex form of the in-plane anisotropy.

Mots clés: ferromagnetic resonance; Heusler alloys; magnetic anisotropy; spin waves

Domaines: Matériaux; Mécanique [physics.med-ph]

M Belmeguenai, F Zighem, D Faurie, H. Tuzcuoglu, S.-M. Cherif, et al.. Structural and magnetic properties of Co2MnSi thin films. Physica Status Solidi, 2012, 209, pp.1328-1333. ⟨10.1002/pssa.201228039⟩. ⟨hal-01193055⟩