%0 Journal Article
%T Amorphous GdFeCo Films Exhibiting Large and Tunable Perpendicular Magnetic Anisotropy
%A Manli Ding
%A S. Joseph Poon
%J Physics
%D 2013
%I arXiv
%R 10.1016/j.jmmm.2013.03.007
%X We report the compositional and temperature dependence of magnetic compensation in amorphous GdFeCo films. Magnetic compensation is attributed to the competition between antiferromagnetic coupling of rare-earth with transition-metal (TM) ions and ferromagnetic interaction between the TM ions. The low-Gd region from 20 to 34 at. % was found to exhibit compensation phenomena characterized by a low saturation magnetization and perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) near the compensation temperature. Compensation temperature was not observed in previously unreported high-Gd region from 52 to 59 at. %, in qualitative agreement with results from recent model calculations. However, low magnetization was achieved at room temperature, accompanied by a large PMA with coercivity reaching ~6.6 kOe. The observed perpendicular magnetic anisotropy of amorphous GdFeCo films probably has a structural origin consistent with certain aspects of the atomic-scale anisotropy. Our findings have broadened the composition range of transition metal-rare earth alloys for designing PMA films, making it attractive for tunable magnetic anisotropy in nanoscale devices.
%U http://arxiv.org/abs/1306.6451v1