| 1. |
- Ciuciulkaite, Agne, MSc, 1991-
(författare)
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The interaction of light and magnetism in the TbxCo100-x system
- 2019
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Development of the faster and denser magnetic memory storage elements has been an active area of research since early 20th century. The path of research on magnetization manipulation began with firstly changing the magnetization state of a medium in an external magnetic field, then heating of a medium and magnetizing with a permanent magnet was explored, while the latest efforts have been focused on switching the magnetization only by a polarized laser light. Nowadays due to the technological advancement of lasers and material fabrication methods, the search and development process of magnetic memory elements is much faster. The implementation of such technologies, however, relies on finding suitable magnetic materials which would allow for a fast magnetization writing and read-out processes and would remain magnetized, even with the reduced dimensions. Ferrimagnetic rare Earth - transition metal (RE-TM) alloys have been used for fabricating magneto-optical recording media already since the 1990’s. Relatively recently, in 2007, it was demonstrated that the ferrimagnetic GdFeCo alloy magnetization state can be switched using only circularly polarized laser light. Hence, ferrimagnetic RE-TMalloys could be suitable candidates for all-optical light-induced magnetization switching (AOS), without any external magnetic field. Another combination of RE-TM alloys that was shown to exhibit AOS is ferrimagnetic amorphous alloys containing terbium and cobalt (Tb:Co). They have attracted attention due to their strong out-of-plane magnetic anisotropy, high magneto-optical activity and amorphicity, which makes them attractive from a fabrication point of view since a variety of substrates and buffer layers could be used for growing such layers. In this Thesis, TbCo alloys are investigated in order to examine how the magnetic, optical and magneto-optical properties could be tuned by varying the elemental ratio and film thickness. The main question that was addressed here was whether such a system is suitable for fabrication of nanosized magnetic elements as the building blocks for the magnetic memory applications. TbCo alloys were prepared as thin films by magnetron co-sputtering method onto different substrates and buffer layers. Films were characterized using a variety of techniques such as an ion beam analysis, an x-ray reflectivity and diffraction, and magneto-optical characterization techniques. It was observed that the properties of such alloys depend not only on the Tb:Co ratio but also on the film thickness and an underlying buffer layer. Magnetization compensation point, at which the magnetization of a film is zero, as in an antiferromagnet, can be modified depending on the buffer layer. All-optical switching (AOS) of magnetization experiments were performed on the fabricated samples. It was determined that AOS with at least 50-100 laserpulses can be achieved for the films grown directly onto fused silica substrates and with the compositions above the magnetization compensation point at room temperature, in the range of 24 - 30 at.% Tb. In the Outlook, the initial efforts of patterning the films into the arrays of nanosized elements are presented. It is demonstrated that after the lithographic patterning of the films, the resulting nanosized elements remained out-of-plane magnetized. In this work it is shown that the ferrimagnetic TbCo alloy system is a potential candidate material for bothfacilitating AOS and the fabrication of arrays of nanomagnets. Combining the TbCo alloys,which show AOS, together with a suitable buffer layer and patterning the hybrid structure,could enable selective element-by-element magnetization switching for the magnetic memorystorage devices.
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| 2. |
- Denoel, Fernand
(författare)
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Electronic and magnetic properties of Tsai quasicrystals and their approximants under pressure
- 2022
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Quasicrystals constitute a special category of crystals exhibiting long-range order without periodicity. This strange feature allows them to exhibit rotational symmetries prohibited in regular crystals, such as 5-, 8-, 10- or 12-fold symmetry. Amongst them, icosahedral quasicrystals are the only type that is aperiodic along all 3 dimensions. The present work will focus on Tsai-Type quasicrystals and their approximants, which are the most studied type of icosahedral quasicrystals. We will introduce how they can be generated froma hyperspace perspective, their exotic structure and how it relates to their physical properties. Pressure is a key parameter which can be used to alter the condensed matter properties of a material. By reducing the size of samples and using diamond anvil cells, it is possible to obtain the highest experimentally achievable pressures and collect informations such as magnetization, electrical resistivity or Raman signal. This work will introduce the specialized diamond anvil cells we used to investigate electron transport and magnetization under pressure, explain in details how to circumvent the most common difficulties arising with high pressure setups. and describe how high pressure affects Tsai quasicrystals and approximants in terms of structure and magnetic properties.
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| 3. |
- Dorri, Samira, 1988-
(författare)
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Magnetron Sputter Epitaxy of CrB2/TiB2 Diboride Superlattice Thin Films
- 2024
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Artificial superlattices with their exceptional properties have been popular in a broad range of applications such as electronic, magnetic, optical, and hard coating. Another potential application for single crystal artificial superlattices is highly efficient interference neutron optics, owing to an ultimate interface width of just ±½ atomic layer. Moreover, studies of superlattices have been instrumental in understanding the hardening mechanisms in transition metal nitrides and carbides while such studies on transition metal diborides is lacking, despite extensive studies on monolithic transition metal diboride thin films.This work is an initiative to grow CrB2/TiB2 (0001) diboride superlattices epitaxially onto Al2O3 (0001) substrates by direct current magnetron sputter epitaxy implementing two different approaches; compound diboride targets, and co-sputtering of a metal target with a compound target. Effects of substrate temperature, B stoichiometry (B/TM ratio), modulation period Λ = DCrB2 + DTiB2, layer thickness ratio , and relative applied power to magnetrons on the structural and interface quality of superlattices are studied and discussed.Using compound targets, superlattices with thickness ratio Γ = 0.3 and modulation periods Λ between 1 and 10 nm, and with Λ = 6 nm and thickness ratios between 0.2 to 0.8 were synthesized at the optimum sputter gas pressure of pAr = 4 mTorr and a substrate temperature of 600 °C. It is found that superlattices with Λ = 6 nm and Γ in the range of 0.2-0.4 exhibit the highest structural quality. However, B segregation in the over-stoichiometric TiBy layers (y > 2), grown from TiB2 compound target, results in narrow epitaxial superlattice columnar growth with structurally distorted B-rich boundaries. By co-sputtering from Ti and TiB2 targets, y could be reduced from 3.3 to 0.9 in TiBy layers through controlling the relative applied target power. Co-sputtered TiBy single layers and superlattices were grown at substrate temperatures between 600 and 900 °C. 300-nm-thick TiB2.3 single layers grown at 750 °C exhibited epitaxial domains about 10x larger than non-co-sputtered films.A significant enhancement for close-tostoichiometry CrB1.7/TiB2.3 superlattices with modulation periods Λ = 6 nm was achieved at 750 °C. X-ray diffraction, time of flight elastic recoil detection analysis, scanning transmission electron microscopy, electron energy loss spectroscopy, selected area electron diffraction, and nano-indentation are used for characterization.
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| 4. |
- Lebrun, Delphine, 1985-
(författare)
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Fabrication of inverse opal oxide structures for efficient light harvesting
- 2014
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Artificial opals are self-assembled face centered cubic (fcc) structures of spherically shaped beads, which interesting applications as photonic band gap materials. Inverse opals are photonic crystals consisting of fcc paced voids of a low refractive index material imbedded in a high refractive index material. Such structures has been used to enhance the photocatalytic effect of different materials and motivates further studies to improve the deposition process of the opal templates and their inversion. We state the fabrication method to design and model metal oxide inverse opals. We have successfully created alumina and alumina-titania inverse opals. With the help of simulations, we engineered inverse opals with self-assembly and atomic layer deposition.
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| 5. |
- Ravensburg, Anna Lena
(författare)
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Growth of high quality Fe thin films : A study of the effect of mismatch strain on the physical properties of Fe
- 2022
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The work in this licentiate is devoted to investigating the epitaxial growth of thin Fe layers on MgAl2O4 (001) and MgO (001) substrates using dc magnetron sputtering. The aim is to qualitatively and quantitatively determine the crystal quality of the grown Fe layers depending on their thickness, substrate material, and selected deposition parameters. The effect of the crystal quality on the magnetic and electronic transport properties is discussed. The structural characterization of the epitaxial Fe thin films is carried out by x-ray reflectometry and diffraction as well as transmission electron microscopy. X-ray scattering measurements and analysis with related models allow for a quantitative determination of layering, crystal quality, and strain profiles in the growing Fe. Magnetic properties are determined using a combination of longitudinal magneto-optical Kerr effect measurements, Kerr microscopy, and scanning electron microscopy with polarization analyser. Electronic transport properties are characterized by four-point probe measurements of the thin films. The epitaxial growth of Fe is found to be highly substrate dependent: Fe layers grown on MgAl2O4 have a significantly higher crystal quality, as compared to Fe grown on MgO. The difference in crystal quality is attributed to different strain states in Fe, which is supported by theoretical calculations of the critical thickness on both substrates. Moreover, an anomalous elastic response in Fe at the thin film limit is found. The magnetic properties of Fe are weakly reflecting the differences in crystal quality of the Fe layers. However, the difference in crystal quality affects the electronic transport properties. The results of this study on epitaxial Fe layers can provide insights into strain and defect engineering in Fe thin films, which can additionally serve as model systems for finite size effects.
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| 6. |
- Vantaraki, Christina
(författare)
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Designing order with long-range interactions in mesoscopic magnetic chains
- 2023
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis investigates how the low-energy magnetic configuration of a mesoscopic chain can be tuned by geometrical modifications. The magnetic arrays made by single-domain stadium shaped elements positioned side-by-side were fabricated by patterning into a sputtered ferromagnetic thin film. The thickness of the thin film was determined by X-ray reflectivity measurements while Scanning Electron Microscopy and Atomic Force Microscopy were used to characterize the surface morphology of the nanostructures. Magnetic Force Microscopy was used to image the magnetic configuration of mesoscopic chains after applying a thermal annealing protocol and a field demagnetization protocol. By gradually modifying the geometrical arrangement of the half of mesospins, the magnetic chain is found to exhibit a transition from antiferromagnetic to dimer antiferromagnetic configuration after the thermal annealing treatment. After the field demagnetization protocol, both antiferromagnetic and dimer antiferromagnetic domains are formed. Micromagnetic simulations were performed to investigate how the interaction between the mesospins is affected by the geometrical modifications and a qualitative method was invented to examine the theoretical low-energy state of the magnetic chains. It is found that the low-energy magnetic configuration of the mesoscopic arrays is formed after the competition and collaboration of different interactions and is the one observed after the thermal annealing treatment.
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