Perpendicularizing magnetic anisotropy of full-Heusler Co2FeAl films by cosputtering with terbium.

In this letter, we fabricated Co₂FeAl films with perpendicular-to-plane magnetic anisotropy by cosputtering with terbium (Tb). The as-prepared (Tb+Co₂FeAl) films (TCFA) consists of nanocrystalline L2₁ Co₂FeAl and amorphous alloy of Tb(Co, Fe, and Al). The coercivity field (Hc) of the TCFA films is adjustable from 200 to 800 Oe. After annealing, the Hc decreases to 70 Oe. A perpendicularly magnetized spin valve with the TCFA films as free and reference layers shows a current-perpendicular-to-plane magnetoresistance of 1.8% at room temperature. Our result opens a way to fabricate perpendicularly magnetized full-Heusler alloys and makes it possible to realize faster and simple structured magnetic storage bits in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]