Title :
Evolution of electrical and magnetic properties with annealing treatments for GdCu films
Author :
Hsu, J.H. ; Huang, Y.H. ; Chen, J.W. ; Yao, Y.D.
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Phys., Nat. Taiwan Univ., Taipei, Taiwan
fDate :
9/1/1996 12:00:00 AM
Abstract :
Ultrafine Gd particles in a Cu metallic matrix have been obtained by post-annealing of as-sputtered metastable GdxCu1-x alloys at temperatures higher than 250°C. The results of resistivity measurements show that the resistivities of as-sputtered metastable Gd0.2Cu0.8 and Gd0.3Cu0.7 alloys exhibit a resistivity minimum at low temperatures, an indication of the Kondo effect. In addition the temperature of the resistivity minimum rises with the increasing Gd content. Conversely, the resistivity of films after formation of Gd granules levels off at low temperatures. The magnetic results indicate that the metastable GdCu alloys are essentially a spin-glass at low temperature with the transition temperatures at around 3.5~5 K. However, magnetization data at 80 K shows that the as-sputtered samples contain some small Gd ferromagnetic clusters in the paramagnetic matrix. The magnetic particles of granular films begin to be thermally blocked at T B and become magnetically ordered below TB. Due to larger grain sizes, TB is much higher for x=0.3 than for 0.2. The variation of transport and magnetic properties for samples with different annealing processes are described in detail
Keywords :
Kondo effect; annealing; copper alloys; electrical resistivity; ferromagnetic materials; gadolinium alloys; grain size; granular materials; magnetic particles; magnetic thin films; magnetic transition temperature; magnetisation; metallic thin films; spin glasses; sputtered coatings; 250 C; 3.5 to 5 K; 80 K; Cu; Cu metallic matrix; Gd; Gd granules; Gd0.3Cu0.7 alloys; GdCu; Kondo effect; annealing treatments; as-sputtered metastable Gd0.2Cu0.8; as-sputtered metastable GdxCu1-x alloys; electrical properties; low temperatures; magnetic particles; magnetic properties; magnetization; metastable GdCu alloys; paramagnetic matrix; post-annealing; resistivities; resistivity measurements; resistivity minimum; small Gd ferromagnetic clusters; spin-glass; transition temperatures; ultrafine Gd particles; Annealing; Conductivity measurement; Copper alloys; Iron alloys; Magnetic films; Magnetic properties; Magnetization; Metastasis; Paramagnetic materials; Temperature;
Journal_Title :
Magnetics, IEEE Transactions on