Abstract
Amorphous FexSi1-x thin films exhibit a striking enhancement in magnetization compared to crystalline films with the same composition (0.45 < x < 0.75), and x-ray magnetic circular dichroism reveals an enhancement in both spin and orbital moments in the amorphous films. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations reproduce this enhanced magnetization and also show a relatively large spinpolarization at the Fermi energy, also seen experimentally in Andreev reflection. Theory and experiment show that the amorphous materials have a decreased number of nearest neighbors and reduced number density relative to the crystalline samples of the same composition; the associated decrease in Fe-Si neighbors reduces the hybridization of Fe orbitals, leading to the enhanced moment.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 026102 |
Number of pages | 9 |
Journal | Materials Research Express |
Volume | 1 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 1 Jun 2014 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Amorphous
- Thin film magnetism
- Spintronics
- X-ray absorption
- X-ray magnetic circular dichroism
- Density functional theory