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The use of graphene in spintronic devices is contingent on its ability to convert a spin current into a charge current. We have systematically investigated the spin pumping induced spin-to-charge current conversion at the Graphene/FM interface and the effect of interface modification through high spin orbit coupling (SOC) material (Pt) as an interlayer (IL) of varying thicknesses by using broadband FMR spectroscopy. The spin mixing conductance is enhanced from $1.66 \times 10^{18}$ m$^{-2}$ to $2.72 \times 10^{18}$ m$^{-2}$ whereas the spin current density is enhanced from 0.135$\pm $0.003 to 0.242$\pm$0.004 MA/m$^{2}$ at the Graphene/FM interface due to the interface modification using high SOC material Pt as an interlayer. The spin current to charge current conversion efficiency turns out to be $\approx 0.003$ nm for the Graphene/FM interface. These findings support the idea that Graphene in combination with high SOC material (Pt) could be a potential candidate for spintronic applications, specifically for spin-torque-based memory applications., Comment: 8 Pages, 6 figures

Interfaces in FeCoB/MgO/FeCoB magnetic tunnel junction play a vital role in controlling their magnetic and transport properties for various applications in spintronics and magnetic recording media. In this work, interface structures of a few nm thick FeCoB layers in FeCoB/MgO and MgO/FeCoB bilayers are comprehensively studied using x-ray standing waves (XSW) generated by depositing bilayers between Pt waveguide structures. High interface selectivity of nuclear resonance scattering (NRS) under the XSW technique allowed measuring structure and magnetism at the two interfaces, namely FeCoB-on-MgO and MgO-on-FeCoB, yielding an interesting result that electron density and hyperfine fields are not symmetric at both interfaces. The formation of a high-density FeCoB layer at the MgO/FeCoB (FeCoB-on-MgO) interface with an increased hyperfine field (~34.65 T) is attributed to the increasing volume of FeCo at the interface due to boron diffusion from 57FeCoB to the MgO layer. Furthermore, it caused unusual angular-dependent magnetic properties in MgO/FeCoB bilayer, whereas FeCoB/MgO is magnetically isotropic. In contrast to the literature, where the unusual angular dependent in FeCoB based system is explained in terms of in-plane magnetic anisotropy, present findings attributed the same to the interlayer exchange coupling between bulk and interface layer within the FeCoB layer.

In this work, the effect on crystallite orientation, surface morphology, fractal geometry, structural coordination and electronic environment of DC magnetron sputtered AlN films were investigated. X-ray diffraction results disclosed that the c-axis orientation of AlN films increased with the preferred wurtzite hexagonal structure above 17% N2 flow. X-ray reflectivity data confirmed AlN film density increased with increasing N2 flow and was found to be 3.18g/cm3 for 40% N2. The transition of electrons from N 1s to 2p states hybridized with Al 3p states because of {\pi}* resonance was obtained from X-ray absorption spectroscopy of the N K-edge. The semi-empirical coordination geometry of nitrogen atoms has been studied by deconvolution of N K-edge. The surface composition of AlN films at 40% N2 consists of 32.08, 51.94 and 15.97at.% Al, N and O respectively. Blue-shifting of A1(LO) and E1(LO) modes in the Raman spectra at phonon energies 800 and 1051cm-1 respectively was most likely due to the presence of oxygen bonds in the AlN films.

Magnetization reversal of soft ferromagnetic Fe layer, coupled to [Co/Pt]ML multilayer [ML] with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA), has been studied in-situ with an aim to understand the origin of exchange bias (EB) in orthogonal magnetic anisotropic systems. The interface remanant state of the ML is modified by magnetic field annealing, and the effect of the same on the soft Fe layer is monitored using the in-situ magneto-optical Kerr effect (MOKE). A considerable shift in the Fe layer hysteresis loop from the centre and an unusual increase in the coercivity, similar to exchange bias phenomena, is attributed to the exchange coupling at the [Co/Pt]ML and Fe interface. The effect of the coupling on spin orientation at the interface is further explored precisely by performing an isotope selective grazing incident nuclear resonance scattering (GINRS) technique. Here, the interface selectivity is achieved by introducing a 2 nm thick Fe57 marker between [Co/Pt]ML and Fe layers. Interface sensitivity is further enhanced by performing measurements under the x-ray standing wave conditions. The combined MOKE and GINRS analysis revealed the unidirectional pinning of the Fe layer due to the net in-plane magnetic spin at the interface caused by magnetic field annealing. Unidirectional exchange coupling or pinning at the interface, which may be due to the formation of asymmetrical closure domains, is found responsible for the origin of EB with an unusual increase in coercivity., Comment: 9 figures, 1 table

Magnetoelastic and magnetoelectric coupling in the artificial multiferroic heterostructures facilitate valuable features for device applications such as magnetic field sensors and electric write magnetic-read memory devices. In a ferromagnetic/ferroelectric heterostructures, the strain mediated coupling exploits piezoelectricity/electrostriction in ferroelectric phase and magnetostriction/piezomagnetism in ferromagnetic phase. Such verity of these combined effect can be manipulated by an external perturbation, such as electric field, temperature or magnetic field. Here, we demonstrate the remote-controlled tunability of these effects under the visible, coherent and polarized light. The combined surface and bulk magnetic study of domain-correlated Ni/BaTiO3 heterostructure reveals that the system is strong sensitive about the light illumination via the combined effect of converse piezoelectric, magnetoelastic coupling and converse magnetostriction. Well-defined ferroelastic domain structure is fully transferred from a tetragonal ferroelectric to magnetostrictive layer via interface strain transfer during the film growth. The visible light illumination is used to manipulate the original ferromagnetic microstructure by the light-induced domain wall motion in ferroelectric, consequently the domain wall motion in the ferromagnetic layer. Our findings mimic the attractive remote-controlled ferroelectric random-access memory write and magnetic random-access memory read application scenarios, hence, can be proven as a novel perspective for room temperature device applications., Comment: 35 pages, 7 figures

The mixed rare-earth orthochromite Nd$_{0.5}$Dy$_{0.5}$CrO$_{3}$ has a N\'eel temperature ($T_\mathrm{{N}}$) of ${\sim}$ 175\,K, resulting in the G-type antiferromagnetic ordering of Cr$^{3+}$ spins. The inverse susceptibility shows a deviation from Curie-Weiss law at 230\,K, with a large effective paramagnetic moment of 8.8\,${\mu}_{\mathrm{B}}$. The ZFC-FC magnetization bifurcate just above $T_\mathrm{{N}}$ and show a distinct signature of spin reorientation near 60\,K. Neutron diffraction show that below $T_\mathrm{{N}}$, the Cr$^{3+}$ spins align in ${\Gamma}_{2}$ representation as ($F_{x}$, $G_{z}$). Below 60\,K, due to spin reorientation, the magnetic structure is in ${\Gamma}_{1}$ ($G_{y}$) configuration. The neutron diffraction does not show any signature of rare-earth ordering even at 1.5\,K. First principles density functional theory calculations within GGA+U and GGA+U+SO approximations reveal that the G-type antiferromagnetic order is the ground state magnetic structure of Cr sublattice and the spin-reorientation of Cr$^{3+}$ spins can happen in the absence of 3d-4f interactions unlike in the case of orthoferrites. The specific heat shows a `${\lambda}$' anomaly at $T_\mathrm{{N}}$, while at low temperature two distinct Schottky anomalies are observed; a Schottky peak at 2\,K and an additional step-like feature above 10\,K. Above $T_\mathrm{{N}}$, the magnetic transition is preceded by structural anomalies as seen in our x-ray diffraction and Raman measurements. The deviation of structural parameters near N\'eel temperature is smaller. The phonon frequencies show deviation from the standard anharmonic behaviour: first near 250\,K, due to magneto-volume effects while the second deviation occurs near 200\,K due to spin-phonon coupling., Comment: 12 pages, 13 figures

To contemplate an alternative approach for the minimization of diffusion at high temperature depositions, present findings impart viability of room-temperature deposited reactively sputtered ScN thin film samples. The adopted room temperature route endows precise control over the $R_{N_2}$ flow for a methodical structural phase evolution from Sc$\to$ScN and probe the correlated physical aspects of the highly textured ScN samples. In the nitrided regime i.e. at $R_{N_2}$ = 2.5-100% flow, incorporation of unintentional oxygen defects were evidenced from surface sensitive soft x-ray absorption spectroscopy study, though less compared to their metal ($R_{N_2} = 0\%$) and interstitial ($R_{N_2} = 1.6\%$) counterparts, due to higher Gibb's free energy for Sc-O-N formation with no trace of ligand field splitting around the O K-edge spectra. To eradicate the sceptism of appearance of N K-edge (401.6 eV) and Sc L-edge (402.2 eV) absorption spectra adjacent to each other, the nascent Sc K-edge study has been adopted for the first time to validate complementary insight on the metrical parameters of the Sc-N system taken into consideration. Optical bandgaps of the polycrystalline ScN thin film samples were found to vary between 2.25-2.62 eV as obtained from the UV-Vis spectroscopy, whereas, the nano-indentation hardness and modulus of the as-deposited samples lie between 15-34GPa and 152-476GPa, respectively following a linearly increasing trend of resistance to plastic deformations. Besides, contrary to other early 3d transition metal nitrides (TiN, VN, CrN), a comprehensive comparison of noticeably large homogeneity range in Sc-N has been outlined to apprehend the minuscule lattice expansion over the large $R_{N_2}$ realm., Comment: 13 pages, 6 figures

This work demonstrates synthesis and study of fcc-Co derived from an isostructural Co4N. Diffusion measurements carried out in this work, reveal that N self-diffusion is the swiftest in Co4N compared to other transition metal nitrides or even the mononitride CoN. By the application of a high substrate temperature (Ts) growth or thermal annealing temperature (Ta); N diffuses out from the fcc-Co4N above 573 K leaving behind a high purity fcc-Co phase. Generally, Co grows in a hcp structure and a (partial) hcp to fcc-Co transformation takes place around 700 K or above 70 GPa. The proposed route through nitridation and diffusion of N not only bring down the phase transition temperature, an impurity present in the form of hcp-Co can be avoided altogether. Oriented Co4N(111) thin films were grown using a CrN(111) template on a quartz substrate using a dc magnetron sputtering. Samples were grown at different Ts or room temperature grown Co4N samples were annealed at different Ta. Analysis using x-ray diffraction, N K-edge x-ray absorption, x-ray photoelectron and secondary ion mass spectroscopy confirmed the formation of fcc-Co4N or fcc-Co phases. It was found that Co-N bonding and N concentration get significantly reduced at a high Ts or Ta. Magnetization measurements combining ex-situ and in-situ magneto-optical Kerr effect showed differences in anisotropy and coercivity of Co4N and fcc-Co samples. Combining structural, electronic and magnetization measurements, it has been observed that a high purity fcc-Co can be conveniently derived from the isostructural Co4N aided by an exceptionally high N self-diffusion in Co4N., Comment: 9 pages, 8 figures

Rock-salt type niobium nitride ($\delta$-NbN) is a well-known superconductor having superconducting transition temperature (Tc) $\approx$ 18\,K and a large superconducting gap $\approx$3\,meV. The Tc of $\delta$-NbN thin film exhibits a large scattering irrespective of the growth conditions and lattice parameter. In this work, we investigate the atomic origin of suppression of Tc in $\delta$-NbN thin film by employing combined methods of experiments and ab-initio simulations. Sputtered $\delta$-NbN thin films with different disorder were analyzed through electrical resistivity and x-ray absorption spectroscopy. A strong correlation between the superconductivity and the atomic distortion induced electronic reconstruction was observed. The theoretical analysis revealed that under N-rich growth conditions, atomic and molecular N-interstitial defects assisted by cation vacancies form spontaneously and are responsible for the suppression of Tc in $\delta$-NbN by smearing its electronic densities of states around Fermi level., Comment: 5 Pages, 4 figures

This study aims towards a systematic reciprocity of the tunable synthesis parameters - partial pressure of N$_2$ gas, ion energy (\Ei) and Ti interface in TiN thin film samples deposited using ion beam sputtering at ambient temperature (300\,K). At the optimum partial pressure of N$_2$ gas, samples were prepared with or without Ti interface at \Ei~=~1.0 or 0.5\,keV. They were characterized using x-ray reflectivity (XRR) to deduce thickness, roughness and density. The roughness of TiN thin films was found to be below 1\,nm, when deposited at the lower \Ei~of 0.5\,keV and when interfaced with a layer of Ti. Under these conditions, the density of TiN sample reaches to 5.80($\pm$0.03)\,g~cm$^{-3}$, a value highest hitherto for any TiN sample. X-ray diffraction and electrical resistivity measurements were performed. It was found that the cumulative effect of the reduction in \Ei~from 1.0 to 0.5\,keV and the addition of Ti interface favors (111) oriented growth leading to dense and smooth TiN films and a substantial reduction in the electrical resistivity. The reduction in \Ei~has been attributed to the surface kinetics mechanism (simulated using SRIM) where the available energy of the sputtered species (\Esp) leaving the target at \Ei~= 0.5\,keV is the optimum value favoring the growth of defects free homogeneously distributed films. The electronic structure of samples was probed using N K-edge absorption spectroscopy and the information about the crystal field and spin-orbit splitting confirmed TiN phase formation. In essence, through this work, we demonstrate the role of \Esp~and Ti interface in achieving highly dense and smooth TiN thin films with low resistivity without the need of a high temperature or substrate biasing during the thin film deposition process., Comment: 14 pages; 6 figures

We studied the growth behavior, structural, electronic, and magnetic properties of cobalt nitride (Co-N) thin films deposited using direct current (dc) and high power impulse magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS) processes. The N$_2$ partial gas flow (\pn) was varied in close intervals to achieve the optimum conditions for the growth of tetra cobalt nitride (\tcn) phase. We found that Co-N films grown using HiPIMS process adopt (111) orientation as compared to the growth taking place along the (100) direction in the dcMS process. It was observed that HiPIMS grown Co-N~films were superior in terms of crystallite size and uniform surface morphology. The local structure of films was investigated using x-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) measurements. We found that the high energy of adatoms in the HiPIMS technique assisted in the greater stabilization of fcc-Co and novel \tcn~phase relative to the dcMS process. Magnetic properties of Co-N thin films were studied using magneto-optical Kerr effect, vibrating sample magnetometry and polarized neutron reflectivity. It was found that though the saturation magnetization remains almost similar in films grown by dcMS or HiPIMS processes, they differ in terms of their magnetic anisotropy. Such variation can be understood in terms of differences in the growth mechanisms in dcMS and HiPIMS processes affecting the local structure of resulting \tcn~phase., Comment: 12 pages, 9 figures

Nickel nitride (Ni-N) thin film samples were deposited using reactive magnetron sputtering process utilizing different partial flow of N2 (RN2). They were characterized using x-ray reflectivity (XRR), x-ray diffraction (XRD) and x-ray absorption near edge spectroscopy (XANES) taken at N K-edge and Ni L-edges. From XRR measurements, we find that the deposition rate and the density of Ni-N films decrease due to successively progression in RN2, signifying that Ni-N alloys and compounds are forming both at Ni target surface and also within the thin film samples. The crystal structure obtained from XRD measurements suggest an evolution of different Ni-N compounds given by: Ni, Ni(N), Ni4N, Ni3N, and Ni2N with a gradual rise in RN2. XANES measurements further confirm these phases, in agreement with XRD results. Polarized neutron reflectivity measurements were performed to probe the magnetization, and it was found Ni-N thin films become non-magnetic even when N incorporation increases beyond few at%. Overall growth behavior of Ni-N samples has been compared with that of rather well-known Fe-N and Co-N systems, yielding similarities and differences among them., Comment: 7 Pages, 5 figures