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Thin-film absorber layers for photovoltaics have attracted much attention for their potential for low cost per unit power generation, due both to reduced material consumption and to higher tolerance for defects such as grain boundaries. Cu2ZnGeSe4 (CZGSe) comprises one such material system which has a near-optimal direct band gap of 1.6 eV for absorption of the solar spectrum, and is made primarily from earth-abundant elements.CZGSe metallic precursor films were sputtered from Cu, Zn, and Ge onto Mo-coated soda lime glass substrates. These were then selenized in a two-zone close-space sublimation furnace using elemental Se as the source, with temperatures in the range of 400 to 500 C, and at a variety of background pressures. Films approximately 1-1.5 µm thick were obtained with the expected stannite crystal structure.Next, Cu2ZnSnSe4 (CZTSe), which has a direct band gap of 1.0 eV, was prepared in a similar manner and combined with CZGSe as either compositionally homogeneous or layered absorbers. The compositional uniformity of selenide absorbers made by selenizing compositionally homogeneous Cu-Zn-Ge-Sn precursor layers was determined and the band gap as a function of composition was investigated in order to demonstrate that the band gap is tuneable for a range of compositions. For layered Cu-Zn-Ge/Cu-Zn-Sn precursor films, the composition profile was measured before and after selenization to assess the stability of the layered structure, and its applicability for forming a band-gap-graded device for improved current collection.

Grain boundaries (GBs) in polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si) thin film solar cells are frequently found to be detrimental for device performance. Biaxiallytextured silicon with grains that are well-aligned in-plane and out-of-plane can possess fewer GB defects. In this work, we use TCAD Sentaurus device simulator and known experimental work to investigate and quantify the potential performance gains of biaxially-textured silicon. Simulation shows there can be performance gain from well-aligned grains when GB defects dominate carrier recombination or when grains are small. On the other hand, when intra-grain defects dominate recombination and grains are large, well-aligned grains do not lead to much performance gain. Another important result from our simulation is when intra-grain and GB defects are few, Jsc is almost independent of grain size while Voc drops with decreasing grain size.

In the fall of 2012 the Stanford University materials science course Solar Cells, Fuel Cells and Batteries: Materials for the Energy Solution was offered as a flipped class and a massively open online course (MOOC). To the best of our knowledge, this was the first materials science MOOC. Here we describe how the course was implemented, and present results on performance, demographics and other observations that were made. Finally, we provide some perspectives for the future of the implementation of these engineering MOOCs.

We describe our efforts to control the grain boundary alignment in polycrystalline thin films of silicon by using a biaxially textured template layer of CaF2 for photovoltaic device applications. We have chosen CaF2 as a candidate material due to its close lattice match with silicon and its suitability as an ion beam assisted deposition (IBAD) material. We show that the CaF2 aligns biaxially at a thickness of ~10 nm and, with the addition of an epitaxial CaF2 layer, has an in-plane texture of ~15°. Deposition of a subsequent layer of Si aligns on the template layer with an in-plane texture of 10.8°. The additional improvement of in-plane texture is similar to the behavior observed in more fully characterized IBAD materials systems. A germanium buffer layer is used to assist in the epitaxial deposition of Si on CaF2 template layers and single crystal substrates. These experiments confirm that an IBAD template can be used to biaxially orient polycrystalline Si.

Recent efforts in investigating the mechanism of ion beam assisted deposition (IBAD) of biaxially textured thin films of magnesium oxide (MgO) template layers have shown that the texture develops suddenly during the initial 2 nm of deposition. To help understand and tune the behavior during this initial stage, we pre-deposited thin layers of MgO with no ion assist prior to IBAD growth of MgO. We found that biaxial texture develops for pre-deposited thicknesses < 2 nm, and that the thinnest layer tested, at 1 nm, resulted in the best qualitative RHEED image, indicative of good biaxial texture development. The texture developed during IBAD growth on the 1.5 nm pre-deposited layer is slightly worse and IBAD growth on the 2 nm pre-deposited layer produces a fiber texture. Application of these layers on an Al2O3 starting surface, which has been shown to impede texture development, improves the overall quality of the IBAD MgO and has some of the characteristics of a biaxially texture RHEED pattern. It is suggested that the use of thin (2O3 that are currently thought to be required for proper biaxial texture development in IBAD MgO.

The use of an ion beam assist during the concurrent deposition of cubic materials can result in the growth of crystallographically oriented thin films. A model system, magnesium oxide (MgO), has been successfully used as a biaxially textured template film and develops texture in a different manner from that of other well-studied materials, like yttria-stablized zirconia. Here, we present data on the initial nucleation of biaxial texture in this model system using a novel in-situ quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) substrate combined with in-situ reflected high-energy electron diffraction (RHEED). Temporal correlation of mass uptake with the RHEED images of the growing surface can be used to elucidate the mechanism of texture development in these films. Experimental data shows that the initially polycrystalline MgO film develops biaxial crystallographic texture at a thickness of ˜2 nm, regardless of the ion-to-molecule ratio. RHEED images show the onset of texture occurs quickly and is somewhat analogous to a solid phase re-crystallization process with crystallite sizes of ˜3 to 4 nm. Imaging with transmission electron microscopy has corroborated these observations. Changes in the ion-to-molecule ratio can influence the crystallite size and affect the nucleation density of these films. Growth of these films on various substrates changes the sticking coefficient of the MgO and influences the nucleation density and film growth mode as well. This opens the possibility of using MgO and other materials to develop biaxially textured crystallites with a narrow, specified size distribution for nanoscale applications.

Ion beam assisted deposition (IBAD) is used to biaxially texture magnesium oxide (MgO), which is useful as a template for the heteroepitaxial growth of various thin film devices and most notably as a template layer for high temperature superconductors. Improvements in the quality of IBAD MgO films have been largely empirical and there is uncertainty as to the exact mechanism by which this biaxial texture is developed. Using a specially built quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) as both a substrate and monitor in conjunction with reflected high-energy electron diffraction (RHEED) acting on the same surface, we have probed the initial stages of IBAD MgO growth in-situ. We have correlated corresponding RHEED images with real-time mass accumulation QCM data during the film growth. During IBAD growth, the mass accumulation exhibits a sharp change in slope corresponding to a sudden decrease in growth rate. Corresponding RHEED images show an abrupt onset of crystallographic texture at this point. A simple model incorporating differential etch rates of the MgO film and silicon nitride substrate can be used to fit the data but is inconsistent with the behavior during ion etching with no growth. It is, therefore, postulated that a more complex mechanism is responsible for the observed behavior.

A Sieverts apparatus for small quantity samples has been implemented by employing a very small volume pressure reservoir and a sample chamber of less than 1 ml. The hydrogen storage capacity of a commercially available, HiPco (high pressure CO conversion) single-wall carbon nanotube (SWNT) was measured over a hydrogen pressure range of 0-35 Bar at room temperature. The sample contained approximately 5 wt% of residual Fe catalyst, and showed 0.17 wt% of hydrogen uptake capacity at 30 Bar of hydrogen pressure. Palladium nanoparticles were deposited on the SWNT via electrochemical method (EC) from H2PdCl4 solution. The storage capacity of the SWNT with EC-doped Pd was increased to 0.52 wt% at 30 Bar, which corresponds to the capacity enhancement by a factor between 2.8 and 3.1.

Multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) were continuously synthesized by hot wire chemical vapor deposition (HWCVD) using a methane source catalyzed by metal-organic ferrocene. The microstructure of the MWNTs and the catalyst particles were subsequently characterized with transmission electron microscopy which identified three different phases, i.e., bcc α-Fe, fcc γ-Fe and orthorhombic Fe3C. The hydrogen storage capacity of MWNTs was determined with temperature-programmed desorption (TPD) technique. Hydrogen adsorption at near ambient conditions was observed only in as-synthesized MWNTs containing iron particles and was dramatically increased after hydrogen reducing treatment. Possible adsorption mechanism was also discussed.

Nanopatterning through strain-assisted nucleation of metal adatom islands is experimentally studied using a magnetic remanence or Δm measurement. The strain field is generated by a square array of interfacial misfit dislocations with a spacing of 4.1 nm due to the lattice mismatch of the epitaxial Pt(002) film on MgO(002) substrates. The intensity of strain is controlled by changing the thickness of the Pt underlayer ranging from 2.0 to 10.0 nm. The amount of exchange coupling among the Co grains grown on Pt template is measured using the μm technique as an indirect indicator of magnetic grain distribution. From the measured μm values, the morphology of adatom islands is indirectly deduced. The Co islands on a 5.0 nm thick Pt underlayer show the overall negative behavior of Δm curve, i.e., the strongest nanopatterning effect. Strain driven nucleation is found to be achievable through a narrow selection of experimental growth conditions.

Growth of nanostructures with controlled shape, on inhomogeneously strained surfaces, is investigated by means of kinetic Monte Carlo (KMC) simulations. We propose a method to assemble self organized sub-lithographic nanostructures. The method is based on a strain-assisted mechanism for adatom surface diffusion and nucleation. For an inhomogeneous surface strain field there is normally a driving force toward the most tensile strained areas. It is shown by means of KMC simulations, that almost straight and continuous Ag nanowires can be produced on the Pt(111) surface if the growth is followed by high-temperature annealing. We suggest also how the method can be utilized as the first step of a process to reduce the circuit line width.

Polycrystalline Al/Sc multilayer samples are grown via magnetron sputtering. The deposition of Sc onto Al results in significant intermixing between the two components. Substrate curvature, measured in-situ during deposition, reveals behavior similar to that seen in other systems where a slow diffuser is deposited onto a fast diffuser. The multilayer films are further characterized via transmission electron microscopy (TEM), analytical electron microscopy, and X-ray diffraction (XRD), confirming the intermixing and formation of a coherent crystalline phase, likely to be Al3Sc, in the interfacial regions. Nanoindentation hardness tests show that by adding a few percent of Sc to Al films and carefully controlling the location of the Sc, increases in hardness up to 6 times that of a pure Al film can be obtained.

Guided self assembly of periodic arrays of quantum dots has recently emerged as an important research field not only to reduce component size and manufacturing cost but also to explore and apply quantum mechanical effects in novel nanodevices. The intention of this kinetic Monte Carlo (KMC) simulation study is to investigate self-organized nanopatterning on hexagonal surfaces for relaxed periodic surface strain fields applied to Pt(111) epitaxy. The KMC model is a full diffusion bond-counting model including nearest neighbor as well as second-nearest neighbor interactions with an event catalogue consisting of 8989 events modeling the effect of the biaxial surface strain field. The strain dependence of the fcc site and the saddle point for a Pt adatom migrating on top of the Pt(111) surface is calculated using the embedded atom method. Both the valley and the saddle point energies show an excellent linear dependence on the strain. These results are applied in the KMC model. The surface strain in this study is caused by a hexagonal network of dislocations at the interface between the substrate and a mismatched epitaxial layer. How the selforganization of deposited atoms is influenced by the surface strain will be addressed.

Metal multilayers are a unique way to manufacture reliable conductive members for MEMS devices. These members are particularly suited for electrostatic switches. Unlike elemental Al, which experiences curvature problems during processing, the residual stress in these beams can be controlled and calibrated during stress measurements to have repeatable shapes and stresses upon release. In this study, curvature experiments were performed to determine the optimal deposition parameters (pressure, thickness) to produce metal multilayer beams with zero average stress and zero bending moment, which can be obtained by alternating tensile and compressive layers within. Resistivity measurements were made to determine the effect of interfaces on resistivity.

The stress evolution of Mo/Si and Ru/Si multilayers sputtered under the same processing conditions has been investigated. A series of Mo/Si multilayers was also prepared with varying sputtering pressures. The stress evolution of each multilayer displays a well-defined modulation concurrent with the deposition of Mo (Ru) and Si. Large stress develops during the early stages of deposition of each successive layer with Mo (Ru) exhibiting apparent tension and Si exhibiting apparent compression. In the Mo/Si multilayers, these initial transients cause curvature changes of, ∼ 2.5 to 4.5 N/m depending on the sputtering pressure. For Ru/Si the transients exceed 8 N/m and extend across a larger fraction of the total layer thickness. Intermixing and reaction at the interfaces of Mo/Si and Ru/Si multilayers lead to a volume contraction and consequently a contraction of the bilayer period. Moreover, volume contraction due to intermixing is a stress generating mechanism that may explain the initial transients in the stress evolution. The volume of the interdiffused regions of Mo/Si and Ru/Si multilayers was estimated by measuring the contraction of the bilayer period using x-ray diffraction. The results show a strong correlation with the size of the initial stress transients suggesting that intermixing may cause them.

Previous work using in-situ curvature measurement has shown a correlation between stress and microstructure during the early stages of thin film growth. The model presented here can be used to predict the curvature change of the substrate during part of this growth process. Curvature, and thus film stress, is measured in-situ during growth of sputter-deposited Pt on amorphous substrates. The average film stress is observed to be slightly compressive initially, followed by a change towards a tensile maximum, after which the stress becomes compressive again. Plan view TEM micrographs of Pt films of thicknesses up to 35 Å show the evolution of microstructure from isolated islands to a coalesced film. This evidence suggests that the tensile regime is due to island coalescence. The model calculates the curvature induced in a substrate during the tensile excursion associated with island coalescence, where discontinuous islands are modeled as a series of cracks in an otherwise continuous film. Quantitative measurements of island size and areal fraction covered are extracted from the TEM micrographs and used to predict the curvature during coalescence. The predicted stresses are shown to compare favorably with the measured stresses.

Spin dependent tunneling junctions with epitaxially grown underlayers have been investigated to examine the possibility of achieving very flat and uniform barrier layers. Pt/Ni80Fe20 /Fe50Mn50/Ni80Fe20layers were deposited on sapphire (0001) substrates at different temperatures and monitored by in-situ reflection high energy electron diffraction (RHEED). The surface morphology has been found to depend strongly on the growth temperature. X-ray diffraction and magnetic hysteresis loop measurements were also performed to characterize the film structures

Results from in-situ measurements of stress during growth of (111)-textured Ni/Cu multilayers with small and large bilayer periods are presented. In multilayers with small bilayer periods, Ni is in uniform tension and Cu in uniform compression. This behavior is modeled as the growth of a coherent multilayer with alloying in the layers. In multilayers with large bilayer periods, stress relaxation is observed but the measured stresses are much lower than expected based on a Mathews-Blakeslee relaxation process. An alternative stress relaxation mechanism based on high defect densities is presented and discussed.

The effect of in-plane strain on the magnetic anisotropy of [110]-oriented epitaxial TbFe2 films was studied. DC magnetron cosputtering was used to grow epitaxial TbFe2(110) films on A12O3(1120) substrates with an epitaxial Nb(110) buffer layer. Torque magnetometry showed that the films had uniaxial anisotropy, and the torque curves were used to determine the magnetic anisotropy constants of the films by analyzing the rotational hysteresis loss. Film strain was measured using synchrotron radiation. The film strain and anisotropy measurements confirm that the uniaxial anisotropy results from tensile strain in the TbFe2(110) films. This agrees with theoretical calculations of magnetic anisotropy which show that tensile strains can induce a uniaxial anisotropy in TbFe2(110) films.

During growth of Cu/Pd multilayers the apparent stress in the Cu layers changes from compressive to tensile during the growth of a single Cu layer. The apparent stress in the Pd layers is initially either tensile or compressive depending on the thickness of the underlying Cu layer. It has been speculated that this stress behaviour may be either a result of island growth of Cu on Pd or alloying at the Cu/Pd interface[I]. We have observed that the stress behavior is similar in Cu/Pd and Pd/Pt multilayers and continue to study these systems to better understand the origins of stress in metal multilayers. Stress evolution during growth is monitored by in-situ substrate curvature measurement using a multiple parallel laser beam technique. High angle superlattice spectra for the multilayers are found from symmetric x-ray diffraction scans in order to determine crystallographic texture. Information about interfacial disorder and alloying in the layers is obtained from simulation of the superlattice diffraction patterns. Stress behaviour is correlated with possible modes of growth of the layers, and with atomic peening and coherency effects.

We have grown superlattices based on the Clb Heusler alloys PtMnSb, CuMnSb and NiMnSb between 200–500°C on A12O3 (0001). X-ray diffraction (XRD) indicates (111) oriented ordered structures for growth at 300°C. Higher deposition temperature leads to interdiffusion, loss of the multilayer structure and appearance of extra phases. Growth at 200°C slightly reduces the intermixing but also reduces the quality of the crystal structure. For PtMnSb/CuMnSb, we found an enhancement of the saturation magnetization compared to equivalent PtMnSb single layer films and a CuMnSb spacer thickness dependence of the squareness of the M(H) 100ps suggestive of interlayer coupling. Short periodicity NiMnSb/PtMnSb superlattices show an in-plane magnetic easy axis, but correction for shape anisotropy indicates a tendency for perpendicular anisotropy.

We have used grazing incidence x-ray diffraction to observe the structural evolution during growth of sputter-deposited epitaxial Fe films on Cu(001) and Pt(001). We find that on Cu(001), Fe is fcc up to a thickness of 10–12 monolayers, whereupon bcc Fe is observed in first the Pitsch and then the Bain orientations. The fcc Fe shows some relaxation of the misfit from the Cu, as do the Pitsch orientation bcc, which is in tension, and the Bain orientation bcc, which is in compression. All three Fe variants exist in a 40 monolayer thick film. On Pt(001) the Fe grows as bcc with the Bain orientation. However, a thin (20 å) bcc Fe film is transformed to fcc Fe with cube-on-cube orientation by subsequent deposition of Pt. This behavior is consistent with intermixing of Pt into the Fe layer, which lowers the mismatch and bulk chemical energies of the fcc phase relative to that of the bcc phase.

Previous studies of the structure of epitaxial Fe/Pt(001) multilayers have shown that the structure of the Fe layers depends on the Fe layer thickness. For small thicknesses (< 12 Å) the Fe is fcc, while for greater thicknesses (> 22 Å) the Fe has a bcc structure. We speculated that this transition of the Fe structure is a result of intermixing with subsequently deposited Pt. We explore this transition further by examining superlattice satellite peaks around the (111) fundamental reflection, and by using grazing incidence x-ray scattering (GIXS) to examine the structure of epitaxial Fe/Pt(001) multilayers during sputter deposition. The GIXS observations show that the initial growth of Fe is in the bcc structure; thin bcc Fe layers are partially transformed to fcc by subsequent deposition of Pt. The transformation is thermodynamically favorable because the intermixed fcc phase has lower epitaxial mismatch and bulk chemical free energy than the bcc phase.

Polycrystalline Fe/Pt multilayers of varying bilayer period, Λ, were sputter deposited onto SiO2 at room temperature. Film structure was characterized by x-ray diffraction, hardness was determined using nanoindentation, and stresses were examined with wafer curvature. The Fe layers were shown to be predominantly {110} oriented while the Pt layers were mostly {111} oriented. The hardnesses of these multilayer films were enhanced over the rule of mixtures value by a factor of almost 3 and exhibited a dependence on Λ which was similar to that previously observed in epitaxial Fe(001)/Pt(001) multilayers. The hardnesses of the polycrystalline multilayers were higher than those of the epitaxial multilayers, presumably due to grain boundary strengthening in these films. Film stress was large (∼1.5 GPa) and compressive, resulting in buckling-driven delamination of the film from the substrate for films with 40≤Λ≤100 Å. Delamination occurred in the “telephone cord” morphology and was observed in real time. A qualitative discussion of our observations of this delamination mechanism is presented.

The effect of doping the magnetic layer on the magnetoresistance and saturation field of epitaxial, sputter-deposited FeCr/Cr(001) and CoCu/Cu(001) multilayers was examined. FeCr/Cr films with a composition of [14 Å Fe1−xCrx(001)/8 Å Cr(001)]50 where x was varied from 0 to 0.5 and CoCu/Cu films with a composition of [8 Å Co1−xCux(001)/21 Å Cu(001)]40 where x was varied from 0 to 0.2 were deposited onto single crystal MgO(001). The bilayer period and epitaxial orientation of these films were determined by x-ray diffraction. In the FeCr/Cr system the room temperature magnetoresistance was constant at approximately 31% for x≤0.2 and decreased for larger Cr concentrations. The spin-dependent scattering (Δp) is increased over the x=0 value for x=0.1 and x=0.2. The magnetic field required to saturate these multilayers decreases linearly with increasing Cr concentration. The net result is that the sensitivity of these films is increased by Cr doping of the Fe layer. In the CoCu/Cu system the room temperature magnetoresistance, saturation field, and saturation magnetization decrease with the addition of Cu to the Co layer. In contrast to the FeCr/Cr system Δp does not increase with doping of the ferromagnetic layer. However, as in the FeCr/Cr films the sensitivity of these multilayers is increased with respect to that of the x=0 CoCu/Cu multilayer.

Stress evolution was studied during growth of Cu/Pd multilayers using an in-situ, laserbased wafer curvature technique which allowed measurement of stress changes associated with sub-monolayer thickness increases. The apparent stress in the Cu layers changes during growth, from compressive, for thickness less than about 0.5 nm, to tensile for thicknesses above this. The stress behavior in the Pd layers depends on the thickness of the underlying Cu layer. Pd deposited on thick (2 nm) Cu layers is under an apparent compressive stress, while Pd deposited on thin (< 1 nm) Cu layers is initially under a tensile stress but changes to a compressive stress at about 0.5 nm. The overall compressive stress maxima observed in multilayers at a bilayer period of 2 nm is explained by this in-situ behavior. The stress behavior in this system is consistent with either island growth of Cu, or thickness dependent alloying behavior, or both.

In this paper we report the successful growth of single-phase epitaxial PtMnSb films and multilayers by dc magnetron cosputtering, both in the (001) orientation on MgO(001) and W(001), and in the (111) orientation on Al2O3 (0001). Single-layer films in the thickness range 50Å≤t≤1000Å were grown and characterized using x-ray diffraction (XRD), magneto-optic Kerr effect (MOKE), and vibrating sample magnetometry (VSM). The in-plane orientation relationships, as determined by asymmetric XRD, were PtMnSb[100]∥MgO[110], PtMnSb[100]∥W[100], and PtMnSb[101∥Al2O3[2110]. The crystalline quality of the films was found to depend strongly upon the substrate, growth temperature, film thickness, and presence of a capping layer, but rocking curve widths of 1° or less were achieved on each substrate. Measurement of the in-plane strain showed that the films were almost entirely relaxed, with strains 3 and 100-200 Oe ranges respectively. Polar Kerr spectra showed large rotations (0.75° - 1.03°), whose peak wavelengths appear to depend on both film structure and optical interference effects.

The effect of in-plane strain in (111)-oriented epitaxial TbFe2 films on the magnetization orientations was studied. Magnetocrystalline anisotropy, shape anisotropy, and magnetoelastic energy were calculated to determine the magnetization orientation in the presence of various in-plane strains. Theoretical considerations indicate that a compressive strain smaller than -0.065% can induce an out-of-plane magnetization. DC magnetron sputtering from Tb and Fe elemental targets was used to grow 50, 100, 200, and 400 Å thick epitaxial TbFe2(111) films at 600°C on (110)-oriented sapphire substrates with 1000 Å thick epitaxial Mo(110) buffer layers. The growth rate of the TbFe2(111) films was 1.44 Å/sec. X-ray diffractometry, Rutherford backscattering spectrometry, and vibrating sample magnetometry were used to characterize the crystal structure, epitaxial orientation, composition, stress and strain state, and magnetic properties of the TbFe2 films. The TbFe2(111) films were epitaxial with twins rotated by 60° and were in tensile strain states with the resulting in-plane magnetization.

We have prepared epitaxial Fe(110)/Mo(110) multilayers by sputter deposition. These films exhibit a large uniaxial anisotropy and may be attractive as islanded in-plane recording media. The large uniaxial anisotropy is due to the intrinsic surface anisotropy of the Fe(110)/Mo(110) interface, which is of the same magnitude as the surface anistropy of the Fe(110)/W(110) interface but has a different sign (the surface anisotropy of the Fe(110)/Mo(110) interface prefers the [001] axis of magnetization). The magnetoelastic component of the anisotropy is not large. A novel magneto-optic technique was used to measure the transverse component of the magnetization and deduce information about the anisotropy and domain structure of the multilayers.

We have studied the structural origins of perpendicular magnetic anisotropy in amorphous Tb-Fe thin films by employing high energy x-ray scattering. The as-deposited films show a clear structural anisotropy, with a preference for Fe-Tb near-neighbors to align in the out-of-plane direction. Upon annealing, the magnetic anisotropy energy drops significantly, and we see a corresponding reduction in the structural anisotropy. The radial distribution functions indicate that the number of Fe-Tb near-neighbors increases in the in-plane direction, but does not change in the out-of-plane direction. Therefore, the distribution of Fe-Tb near-neighbors becomes more uniform upon annealing. We conclude that the observed reduction in perpendicular magnetic anisotropy energy is a result of this change in structure.

The signal measured during a Magneto-Optic Kerr Effect (MOKE) experiment is usually assumed to be linear in the magnetization (or the magnitude of the magneto-optic coupling vector Q that is proportional to the magnetization) so that a plot of the magnetization versus applied field can be obtained. We have observed an appreciable contribution from the Q2 term in the magneto-optic response of epitaxial Fe(110)/Mo(110) bilayers. The Q2 term in the magneto-optic response is much larger than that predicted by existing theory. We re-derive and modify the existing theory to fit the Q2 term.

Layered structures can possess a high volumetric density of interfaces, which can result in novel magnetic properties. We report magnetic characteristics of two types of atomically layered structures, (001) oriented intermetallics with the CuAu(I) crystal structure and (111) oriented artificial multilayers. C-axis oriented superlattices of PtFe, PtCo, PdFe and PdCo with the layered CuAu(I) structure, possess large magnetic anisotropies and novel magneto-optic properties relative to the corresponding random alloys. These films are produced by annealing, with tetragonality and magnetic anisotropy developing in a fashion which depends on the initial bilayer period and annealing parameters. (111) oriented artificially grown Pd/CoCr multilayers are reported for perpendicular magnetic recording applications. Using a perpendicular contact probe transducer, the multilayers exhibit two times the readback signal of CoCr media. The multilayers can be made with low roughness suitable for contact recording, and can generate narrow readback pulses with large amplitude. Many aspects of Pd/Co performance, such as overwrite, can be predictably optimized for a given set of transducer properties. The reported results show that compositionally modulated structures can be made which have a wide variety of useful properties for perpendicular hard disk and magneto-optic recording.

The hardnesses and elastic moduli of sputter-deposited Fe/Pt and Fe/Cr multilayers grown on MgO(001) are evaluated as a function of composition wavelength, Λ. Structural determination by x-ray diffraction showed these films to be oriented in the plane as well as out of the plane. The mechanical behavior of these films was evaluated by nanoindentation. The combination of nanoindentation and x-ray diffraction is an attempt to determine the structural underpinnings of the mechanical behavior of these metal multilayer systems. For both systems there is no observed enhancement in the elastic modulus (the so-called supermodulus effect) across a wide range of bilayer spacings. Nanoindentation results show that for Fe/Pt multilayers, the hardness is enhanced over that expected from a simple rule of mixtures by a factor of approximately 2.5, with a maximum enhancement of 2.8 times this value at a wavelength of 25 Å. This enhancement in hardness occurs for bilayer spacings from 20 Å to 100 Å and is not a strong function of Λ over this range. Results for Fe/Cr multilayers show a hardness enhancement over a similar wavelength range of approximately two times the rule of mixtures value, with a maximum enhancement of 2.2 times this value at a wavelength of 40 Å. The larger hardness enhancement in the Fe/Pt system may be due to the structural barrier (FCC/BCC) to dislocation motion between the two materials. The dominant mechanism responsible for the hardness enhancement in Fe/Pt and Fe/Cr multilayers is not yet known, however three models for dislocation interactions which could account for the hardness enhancement in these multilayers are discussed.

Metallic multilayer thin film structures exhibit very high hardnesses. The epitaxial Ag/Cr system was chosen to investigate the mechanisms responsible for these high hardnesses. The interfaces of this multilayer structure are expected to be chemically abrupt since silver and chromium are nearly immiscible and do not form intermetallic compounds. The crystallographic structure formed by epitaxial growth isolates the slip systems of each layer.The samples were deposited on (001) MgO substrates by sputter deposition at room temperature. The bilayer spacing of the samples ranges from 1 nm to 20 nm. X-ray diffraction results indicate that the multilayer films exhibit the rotated (001) crystal structure. Hardness and indentation modulus were measured by depth-sensing indentation experiments using a Nanoindenter. The maximum hardness is roughly four times the weighted average of the single component films. The indentation modulus at small bilayer periods varies by ±15% from the value at large bilayer periods, but all of the values fall between the moduli measured for the single component films.Decreasing the bilayer period increases the hardness. At bilayer spacings smaller than 4 nm, the hardness remains constant. Decreasing the thickness of the Cr layer while keeping the thickness of the Ag layer at 5 nm, increases the strength of the multilayered film. At Cr thicknesses smaller than 5 nm, the hardness decreases as the Cr thickness decreases. The effect of the volume fraction of Cr on film strength was also studied.The results are discussed in the context of a deformation model in which the dislocations responsible for deformation are constrained to move in the individual layers. From this model, a lower bound on the strength of the multilayered film can be calculated if plastic deformation occurs in only one layer. An upper bound can be calculated if plastic deformation occurs in both layers. The data fall between the upper and lower bounds and lie closer to the lower bound.

The hardness of epitaxial sputter-deposited Fe(001)/Pt(001) multilayers grown on single crystal MgO(001) has been previously evaluated as a function of composition wavelength, Λ. Nanoindentation results reveal that the hardness is enhanced over that expected from a simple rule of mixtures by a factor of approximately 2.5 for bilayer spacings from 20 to 125 Å. In this paper we investigate possible causes of this hardness enhancement by determining the stress, strain, and alloying in each layer of the multilayer as a function of Λ. Accurate in-plane and out-of-plane lattice parameter measurements were obtained via x-ray diffraction using synchrotron radiation. The stress state and the extent of alloying in each layer as a function of Λ was determined by using the appropriate elastic constants for each component. The stress, strain, and amount of alloying in the Pt layer were near zero for 25≤Λ≤121 Å. The Fe layer exhibited large stresses and strains which relaxed with increasing Λ for 44≤Λ≤121 Å. For Λ=25 Å, the metastable FCC structure was adopted by the Fe film. The amount of alloying also varied from approximately 11 at.% Pt for Λ=44 Å to 5 at.% Pt for Λ=121 Å. Since the structure, film stress, amount of strain relaxation, and extent of alloying vary over this range of Λ while the hardness does not, we conclude that the hardness enhancement in these films must be controlled by other factors. Nevertheless the investigation of these basic film properties has enhanced our understanding of the structure-property relationships that give rise to strengthening in multilayer thin films.

We investigated structural and magnetic properties of Fe/Zr Multilayer films using high-resolution transmission electron Microscopy, X-ray diffraction and vibrating sample Magnetometry. For films with wavelength (Λ) ≥ 80Å, the interface region between the Fe and Zr layers exhibits a 15–20Å thick amorphous structure. The Magnetization curves of these films showed a monotonous decrease in the saturation magnetizations with Λ, whose trend is well explained by a simple asymptotic model that assumes the interface amorphous layer to be non-ferromagnetic. Films with Λ≤40Å exhibit a compositionally-Modulated amorphous structure. The latter films are paramagnetic except for the one with Λ=40Å, which showed a superparamagnetic behavior.

We report on the magnetic and Magneto-optical properties of PtFe and PtCo intermetallic thin films when they have the CuAu(I) tetragonal structure and their crystallographic C axis is oriented out of the film plane. These films possess large perpendicular magnetic anisotropy energies. We observe changes in the Magneto-optic Kerr rotations of Pt-Fe and Pt-Co alloys associated with the formation of the uniaxial CuAu(I) crystal structure. In particular, we report the observation of up to 60% enhancement in the Magneto-optic Ken-rotation for ordered, epitaxial PtFe intermetallic alloy over that of the random face centered cubic alloy. This enhancement is wavelength dependent, with a peak in the visible light range at 2.0 eV.

We report the results of our microstructural investigations into the origin of in-plane uniaxial magnetic anisotropies induced in Ni and Fe thin films by low energy ion beam assisted deposition. 1000 Å films were prepared by ion beam sputtering onto amorphous silica substrates under simultaneous bombardment by 100 eV Xe+ ions under an oblique angle of incidence. The induced anisotropy is studied as a function of ion-to-adsorbate atom arrival ratio, R, from values of 0 to 0.35. The maximum anisotropy field is 150 Oe for Ni and 80 Oe for Fe, but their hard axes are oriented orthogonal to each other. Asymmetric x-ray diffraction is employed to study both in-plane and out-of-plane lattice spacings and crystallographic orientation. In agreement with previous work, we find evidence of a anisotropic in-plane strain of magnitude 0.2-0.5%. In all films, the direction perpendicular to the ion bombardment is compressed relative to parallel. The uniaxial magnetic anisotropy is correlated with this in-plane anisotropic strain using a simple magnetoelastic model.

The heteropitaxial growth of (111) Pt on (0001) sapphire and of (0001) Co on (111) Pt on (0001) sapphire has been observed in-situ using grazing incidence x-ray scattering (GIXS). The in-plane lattice parameters of the Pt and Co phases have been measured as a function of film thickness in the regime from two monolayers to 200 monolayers, Relaxation of elastic strain with thickness has been quantified. X-ray reflections consistent with stacking faults in the Co films have been observed and monitored as a function of thickness, giving a measure of the stacking fault density. A distinct Co phase was observed at two monolayers of Co on a thick Pt layer, indicating an incoherent interface between the Co and Pt, even at this very early stage of deposition.

The giant magnetoresistance effect in antiferromagnetically coupled Fe/Cr Multilayers has been attributed to spin dependent scattering at the interfaces between the constituents. One possible source of this spin dependent scattering is chromium impurities in the iron layers due to intermixing at the interfaces. Annealing the films can promote the diffusion of the components, increasing the impurity concentration and therefore the Magnetoresistance. For this study Fe/Cr Multilayers were annealed at several temperatures and for several durations. Annealing at moderate temperatures (∼ 350°C) increases the Magnetoresistance, while higher temperature anneals (∼ 600°C) cause the magnetoresistance to disappear completely. Long anneals at 330°C (> 100 hours) also reduce the Magnetoresistance. VSM Measurements indicate that the antiferromagnetic coupling is reduced in the annealed samples but show no evidence of Magnetically “dead” alloy layers. Low angle X-ray diffraction indicates that the structural effect of annealing is very subtle in comparison to the significant magnetic effect.

Grazing incidence and asymmetric X-ray diffraction were used to measure the stress and strain state of Fe(110)/Mo(110) multilayers. The highest stress in the Fe constituent of the multilayer was along the % MathType!MTEF!2!1!+- % feaagKart1ev2aaatCvAUfeBSjuyZL2yd9gzLbvyNv2CaerbuLwBLn % hiov2DGi1BTfMBaeXatLxBI9gBaerbd9wDYLwzYbItLDharqqr1ngB % PrgifHhDYfgasaacH8srps0lbbf9q8WrFfeuY-Hhbbf9v8qqaqFr0x % c9pk0xbba9q8WqFfea0-yr0RYxir-Jbba9q8aq0-yq-He9q8qqQ8fr % Fve9Fve9Ff0dmeaabaqaciGacaGaaeqabaWaaeaaeaaakeaadaWada % qaaiaaigdaceaIXaGbaebacaaIWaaacaGLBbGaayzxaaaaaa!3BE5! $$\left[ {1\bar 10} \right]$$ in-plane direction and was due to interaction with the substrate. The magnetic anisotropy of the Fe multilayer constituent was measured and the magnetic surface anisotropy, which favored in-plane [001] magnetization, was deduced. In contrast, the magnetic surface anisotropy of a single layer of Fe on W preferred in-plane % MathType!MTEF!2!1!+- % feaagKart1ev2aaatCvAUfeBSjuyZL2yd9gzLbvyNv2CaerbuLwBLn % hiov2DGi1BTfMBaeXatLxBI9gBaerbd9wDYLwzYbItLDharqqr1ngB % PrgifHhDYfgasaacH8srps0lbbf9q8WrFfeuY-Hhbbf9v8qqaqFr0x % c9pk0xbba9q8WqFfea0-yr0RYxir-Jbba9q8aq0-yq-He9q8qqQ8fr % Fve9Fve9Ff0dmeaabaqaciGacaGaaeqabaWaaeaaeaaakeaadaWada % qaaiaaigdaceaIXaGbaebacaaIWaaacaGLBbGaayzxaaaaaa!3BE5! $$\left[ {1\bar 10} \right]$$ magnetization, in agreement with the Neel model.

We report structural properties of PtFe and PtCo intermetallic compounds with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy and a preferred c-axis orientation perpendicular to the film plane, formed from initially epitaxial multilayers. These materials represent particular cases of a more general class of anisotropic magnetic compounds with the CuAu(1) natural superlattice structure. They possess high magneto-optic Kerr rotations and magnetizations, suggesting them as likely candidates for magneto-optic and perpendicular magnetic recording media.

Structural features in magnetic multilayer films such as interfacial sharpness and in-plane stress are regarded as responsible for the perpendicular magnetic anisotropy observed in these films. The Multilayers often consist of alternating magnetic and non-Magnetic layers, and the degree of interfacial sharpness between the two is a critical component in producing perpendicular anisotropy. Additionally, in-plane stress affects the anisotropy through Magnetostriction. In this work, we measure both the composition modulation and the stress in multilayers of Pt/CO with x-ray diffraction. Quantitative information about the composition modulation is extracted by recursively fitting a model of multilayer diffraction to the high angle superlattice lines. The Model incorporates a composition modulation of variable amplitude, along with a statistical description of the layer thickness fluctuations.

The strain relaxation of sputter-deposited epitaxial Fe on Cu(001)/MgO(001) was observed in-situ for coverages of I to 200 equivalent monolayers of Fe. Grazing incidence x-ray scattering (GIXS) with synchrotron radiation allowed the precise determination of the in-plane strain in the Fe film. The highest observed elastic strain for the Fe was -10.3% which is in agreement with the lattice parameter mismatch between Fe and Cu for both (001)- and {211}-oriented growth. In-plane rocking curves revealed a bifurcation of the Fe(110) and Fe(220) peaks which is due to the rotation of islands to reduce strain energy. The angle of rotation of these islands was found to depend upon the amount of strain relaxation that had occurred in each island, in agreement with a simple theory for strain relaxation via the creation of a misfit dislocation network. The absence of Fe(200) intensity at small Fe thicknesses, coupled with out-of-plane symmetric and pole figure scans, suggest that Fe islands are tilted out of the plane of the sample about the Fe axes by an angle consistent with Fe{211}-oriented growth. At larger thicknesses Fe(001) growth becomes dominant.

We have studied die evolution of the lattice parameter of epitaxial Fe(001) on MgO(001) vs. thickness between 1 and 200 monolayers using Grazing Incidence X-ray Scattering. We show that an interaction exists between the islanded film and the substrate, which allows the film to be incommensurate, even when the islands are too small to allow full dislocations to exist. For the conditions studied, the Fe lattice parameter increases toward the MgO lattice parameter with increasing thickness in the 1–10 monolayer coverage regime, and then relaxes back toward the bulk Fe lattice parameter at greater thicknesses. We employ a model for the interaction between film islands and the substrate which explains large changes in the lattice parameter of the Fe in the 1–10 monolayer thickness range. Relaxation at larger thicknesses is described by continuum elasticity theory.

Strain measurements were performed on multilayer films of Mo/Ni using x-ray diffraction with the scattering vector at varying degrees of inclination to the surface normal. In-plane variations in the lattice parameters confirm that there are coherency stresses between the Mo and Ni layers. Assuming the Nishiama-Wasserman orientation for the planes of Ni and Mo allowed the calculation of the complete stress state in both materials. The in-plane lattice parameter, the perpendicular lattice parameter and the unstrained lattice parameter have also been derived from the data. The substrate interaction stress which would be necessary to provide a force balance between the layers was calculated. This was found to be in good agreement with the global stress measured from wafer curvature. Preliminary results of modelling of the high angle superlattice lines to extract interfacial roughness in the growth direction are also presented.

The effect of layer structure perturbations on antiferromagnetic coupling in Fe-Cr-Fe trilayer systems is investigated. By varying the sputtering pressure, the layer structure of Fe-Cr-Fe trilayers is systematically altered, as indicated by changes in the low angle superlattice spectra of multilayers fabricated under identical conditions. The effect of topographic roughness is investigated by fabricating identical trilayers on Cr buffer layers of different thickness. Scanning tunneling microscopy is used to measure surface roughness. In each case the saturation field is measured as a function of Cr interlayer thickness by means of tapered Cr interlayer structures in which the thickness of the spacer varies linearly from 0 to 28 Å upon a single substrate. Antiferromagnetic coupling is measured locally by means of the magneto-optic Kerr effect. Results show that although the coupling is diminished by structural perturbations, it is a remarkably robust effect which persists even in instances of poor layer structure.

We have extended the Neél model of surface anisotropy in b.c.c. crystals to include next nearest neighbor interaction. Fitting the experimental data for Fe (001) and (110) surfaces leads to some pradoxes which cast doubt on the Neél surface anisotropy as the dominant source of surface anisotropy in thin films.

Structural deviations from ideal layering of bulk constituents can have dramatic effects on the properties of multilayered materials. We discuss three examples of the use of x-ray diffraction in non-standard geometries to examine these effects. In Mo/Ni multilayers, we use asymmetric diffraction and grazing incidence x-ray scattering (GIXS) to deduce the strain and intermixing. We find that coherency stresses between the BCC Mo and FCC Ni planes play a major role. In the Fe/Cr system, we use rocking curves and asymmetric scans about the small angle superlattice lines to investigate the nature and extent of layer roughness. We find that conformai roughness dominates our best samples, while non-conformal roughness increases with sputter deposition pressure. In the Gd/Co system, we use in-situ GIXS to investigate amorphization reaction during deposition. We find a strong diffusional asymmetry and rapid reaction during growth.

We consider the anisotropies due to coherency strains and the inilioliogcliotis stratlus associated with misfit dislocations, both of which give rise to anisotropy through maguctostrictive coupling. Coherency strains can give rise to anl apparent surface anisotrnpy due to the decrease in coherency strain with the film thickness. This anisotropy is comparable in magnitude to that observed experimentally for Fe [110] epitaxial thiut films on W [110]. The strain field associated with misfit dislocations produces a. surface anisotropy which is also comparable in magnitude to experimentally observed anisotropies. Dislocatioms along the inplane [001] and [110] directions both produce the same preferred direction of maguctization orientation.