On defects' role in enhanced perpendicular magnetic anisotropy in Pt/Co/Pt, induced by ion irradiation

M M Jakubowski; M O Liedke; M Butterling; E Dynowska; I Sveklo; E Milińska; Z Kurant; R Böttger; J von Borany; A Maziewski; A Wagner; A Wawro

doi:10.1088/1361-648X/ab0351

On defects' role in enhanced perpendicular magnetic anisotropy in Pt/Co/Pt, induced by ion irradiation

J Phys Condens Matter. 2019 May 8;31(18):185801. doi: 10.1088/1361-648X/ab0351. Epub 2019 Jan 30.

Authors

M M Jakubowski¹, M O Liedke, M Butterling, E Dynowska, I Sveklo, E Milińska, Z Kurant, R Böttger, J von Borany, A Maziewski, A Wagner, A Wawro

Affiliation

¹ Institute of Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland.

PMID: 30699388
DOI: 10.1088/1361-648X/ab0351

Abstract

Modifications of magnetic and magneto-optical properties of Pt/Co(d _Co )/Pt upon Ar⁺ irradiation (with energy 1.2, 5 and 30 keV) and fluence, F at the range from 2 · 10¹³-2 · 10¹⁶ Ar⁺ cm^-2) were studied. Two 'branches' of increased perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) and enhanced magneto-optical response are found on 2D (d _Co , F) diagrams. The difference in F between 'branches' is driven by ion energy. Structural features correlated with magnetic properties have been analysed thoroughly by x-ray diffraction, Rutherford backscattering spectrometry and positron annihilation spectroscopy. Experimental results are in agreement with TRIDYN numerical calculations of irradiation-induced layers intermixing. Our work discusses particularly structural factors related to crystal lattice defects and strain, created and modified by irradiation, co-responsible for the increase in the PMA.