Orientador: Flávio César Guimarães Gandra / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Física Gleb Wataghin / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-19T11:06:30Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Monteiro_JoseCarlosBotelho_M.pdf: 5466679 bytes, checksum: 3148a9c0487d05fa44922d063e525114 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011 / Resumo: Neste trabalho apresentamos os resultados das medidas de magnetização e calorimetria em policristais da série RZn (R= Tb, Gd, Er e Ho). Através da análise das curvas de magnetização em função da temperatura, obtidas em campos de até 5 T, avaliamos e obtemos o efeito magnetocalórico (EMC) para os compostos da série, expresso através da variação isotérmica da entropia. O composto GdZn é o mais simples da série sendo o único que não apresenta efeitos inerentes à anisotropia magnética. Pelas medidas de magnetização observamos uma transição de ordenamento magnético em 260 K. Para este composto utilizamos um hamiltoniano simples, considerando apenas as contribuições devido à interação de troca e ao efeito Zeeman para simular curvas de calor específico e magnetização. Com os dados obtidos observamos uma variação de entropia máxima de 3,49 mJ/gK para um campo de 5 T em torno de Tc. O ErZn apresenta transição ferromagnética em 18 K e uma queda na magnetização em temperaturas abaixo de Tc, que é resultado de uma transição de reorientação de spin (TRS) induzida por campo. Essa transição é um efeito da anisotropia do sistema e é observada apenas em curvas obtidas em baixos campos magnéticos. Para simular as curvas de magnetização do ErZn e dos demais compostos da série adicionamos ao hamiltoniano utilizado a contribuição devido ao campo cristalino. Ao avaliarmos o EMC do ErZn vemos que existe uma pequena anomalia, resultado da TRS, em torno de 11K para variações em até 2 T de campo. Em campos maiores a anomalia desaparece e obtemos um ?S de até 14,83 mJ/gK em campos de 5 T. Os compostos TbZn e HoZn apresentam transições ferromagnéticas em 195 e 66 K, respectivamente, e ambos apresentam transições de reorientação de spin em temperaturas abaixo de Tc. Diferentemente do ErZn, porém, nesses compostos as TRS não são induzidas por campo, sendo resultado apenas da anisotropia do sistema, mostrando efeitos muito mais pronunciados nas curvas de magnetização e calor específico. Ao calcularmos o EMC desses compostos, observamos dois picos pronunciados relativos à mudança da entropia no material, um devido ao ordenamento magnético em Tc e outro devido à reorientação de spin no material. Essa característica faz com que o EMC nesses compostos tenha uma área de atuação muito maior do que em materiais que só apresentam um ?Smax em Tc, tornando materiais desse tipo fortes candidatos à refrigeração magnética / Abstract: This work presents the results of calorimetric and magnetization measurements on polycrystalline RZn series (R = Tb, Gd, Er and Ho). By analyzing the curves of magnetization as a function of temperature, obtained under fields up to 5 T (6 T for TbZn), we obtain and evaluate the magnetocaloric effect (MCE) for compounds of the series, expressed by the isothermal entropy change. The GdZn compound is the simplest of the series being the only one that has no inherent magnetic anisotropy effects. Through magnetization measurements we observe a magnetic ordering transition at 260 K. For this compound we use a simple Hamiltonian, considering only the contributions due to exchange interaction and the Zeeman Effect to simulate curves of specific heat and magnetization. With the data obtained, GdZn presented a maximum entropy change of 3.49 mJ/gK for a magnetic field of 5 T around Tc. The ErZn presents a ferromagnetic transition at 18 K and a drop in magnetization at temperatures below Tc, which is the result of a spin reorientation transition (SRT) induced by magnetic field. This transition is an effect of the system¿s anisotropy and is observed only in curves at low magnetic fields. To simulate the magnetization curves of ErZn and the other compounds of the series we added to the Hamiltonian the contribution due to the crystalline field. In evaluating the MCE of ErZn we find that there is a small anomaly, the result of SRT, around 11K for field variations up to 2 T. In larger fields the anomaly disappears and we get ?S up to 14.83 mJ / gK at fields of 5 T. The compounds HoZn and TbZn have ferromagnetic transitions at 195 and 66 K, respectively, and both have spin reorientation transitions at temperatures below Tc. Unlike the ErZn compound, however, those SRT are not field-induced, being the sole result of anisotropy of the system and showing effects much more pronounced in the curves of magnetization and specific heat. In calculating the EMC of these compounds, we observe two pronounced peaks on the entropy change in the material, one due to a magnetic ordering at Tc and the other due to spin reorientation in the material. This feature shows that the MCE in these compounds act in a much wider range than the usual materials that shows a peak only in Tc, making them strong candidates for magnetic refrigeration / Mestrado / Física da Matéria Condensada / Mestre em Física

Heusler compounds form a large class of intermetallic materials, which attracted a lot of interest in recent years. The reason is their enormous flexibility, which makes it possible to observe almost every physical effect in one of the 1000 members known nowadays. Especially many magnetic Heusler compounds display promising properties, which offer potential application in fields like rare-earth free permanent magnets, magnetocalorics, spin transfer torque devices and tunnel junctions. Apart from that, magnetic Heusler systems are also interesting for fundamental research since some members host skyrmion lattices and other magnetically complex orders. The search for new Heusler compounds is therefore fruitful in many ways. Accordingly, the present thesis followed the approach of synthesizing and characterizing such Heusler compounds that were either entirely new or had unexplored magnetic properties. Exactly this second approach was demonstrated in Chapter 3, namely for IrMnGa. With help of combined neutron and x-ray diffraction experiments it was possible to correct the structural model from literature and show that the compound crystallizes indeed within the half-Heusler space group but with a substantial degree of Y -disorder. In contrast to older suggestions, the subsequent magnetic characterization revealed a robust canonical spin glass state instead of antiferromagnetic order. The magnetic phase diagram was found to be similar to Au1−xFex and thus hinted on a Heisenberg-like spin glass with considerable anisotropy. Contrary to synthesis route and heat treatment, changing the composition allowed to tune the spin glass state extensively. Increasing the Mn content caused a transition from spin to cluster glass behavior and for Mn contents above 40 at%, it was even possible to introduce ferrimagnetic order. Notably, the composition dependence of spin glasses was only studied for binary systems before. It turned out that many trends are quite similar for the Ir-Mn-Ga ternary scenario with the exception of magnetic behavior near the percolation limit being more complex. Generally, spin glass order is rather rare in Heusler compounds and especially for half-Heusler systems a report remained elusive up to IrMnGa. Chapter 4 then summarized investigations on the Heusler series Fe3−xMnxSi, which features a spin reorientation transition at low temperatures. Despite being one of the most studied Heusler systems, the magnetotransport properties were not yet covered systematically in literature. The presented investigations unveiled that the mechanisms of longitudinal as well as Hall resistivity change upon cooling through the spin reorientation transition. For the Hall effect, skew scattering dominates above TR whereas it is the intrinsic mechanism below. The finding emphasizes the dependency of the intrinsic Hall contribution on the magnetic structure and it should be possible to generalize this change of the Hall mechanism to all magnetic transitions, where the intrinsic contribution is affected. The subsequent Chapter 5 provided a reevaluation of the Fe-Mn-Si phase diagram. The approach seemed well justified since the obtained phase boundaries agreed better with theory than the old experimental studies. Furthermore, it was found that those compounds, which were previously identified as β-Mn, actually crystallize in a superstructure. The ordered version has a Mn3IrSi as prototype and derives from β-Mn by splitting of the 8c site into two 4a sites. Due to the close relation of both structures, this phase was named β’-Mn. Moreover, it turned out that the ’mysterious’ secondary phase, which was mentioned for Mn-rich Fe3−xMnxSi Heusler compounds but never specified, is given exactly by β’-Mn. The investigations of its magnetic properties indicated a transition to a canonical spin glass state at low temperatures. β’-Mn thus adds a further type of magnetic ordering to the Fe-Mn-Si system. Indeed, the latter comprised all kinds of solid state magnetism but no spin glass order was reported before. Finally, the spin glass state was demonstrated to exhibit a similar composition dependence as in Ir-Mn-Ga, which illustrated nicely the universal character of the spin glass concept. The last chapter dealt with the difficult search for entirely new Heusler compounds. It was explained that high-throughput studies struggle to predict phase stabilities, which is why they have to be treated with care. To overcome these issues, some design rules were suggested to evaluate whether a Heusler compound is likely to be experimentally stable or not. Usually, there are no reports for systems, which do not form as single phase. Since this is a highly inefficient habit, 26 multi-phase ’Heusler compounds’ were listed. In the end of the chapter, the successful synthesis of three new compounds was presented, namely Ru2CrAl, Ru2CrGa and Ru2CrSb. Ru2CrGa was identified as Pauli paramagnet whereas Ru2CrSb exhibited an antiferromagnetic transition around 100 K. A second transition at 40 K was accompanied by a small increase of magnetization, which hinted on some more complex magnetic structure at low temperatures.

The work in this thesis focuses on the preparation of epitaxial Nd-Fe-B thin films using pulsed laser deposition for good hard magnetic properties. They are suitable for a basic understanding of the intrinsic magnetic properties. Compositional control was necessary to achieve phase formation with improved magnetic properties. Nd-Fe-B samples were prepared on single crystal MgO (001) substrates with different buffer layers in order to obtain good textures with different surface morphology. The smooth and continuous epitaxial films were suitable for performing magnetization measurements under stress. Although the magnetostriction is easily neglected in the Nd2Fe14B compound, distinguishable inverse magnetostriction was observed by conventional tensile elongation with a flexible substrate. As a result, anisotropic strain in the film, which breaks the in-plane symmetry, affected the opening angle during the spin reorientation. Therefore an elliptical distortion of the in-plane anisotropy below the spin reorientation temperature of Nd2Fe14B was obtained, whereas the transition temperature itself was not influenced significantly. / Diese Arbeit behandelt die Herstellung dünner epitaktischer Nd-Fe-B-Schichten mit gepulster Laserdeposition mit dem Ziel, gute hartmagnetische Eigenschaften zu erreichen. Diese Schichten sind außerdem für das Verständnis grundlegender magnetischer Eigenschaften geeignet. Die Kontrolle der Zusammensetzung ist notwendig, um die Phasenbildung und optimale hartmagnetische Eigenschaften zu erreichen. Nd-Fe-B-Schichten wurden auf einkristallinen MgO (001)-Substraten mit verschiedenen Buffern deponiert, um unterschiedliche Texturen und Oberflächenmorphologien einzustellen. Die glatten kontinuierlichen epitaktischen Schichten ermöglichen die Messung der Magnetisierung bei gleichzeitig angelegter mechanischer Spannung. Obwohl die Magnetostriktion bei Nd-Fe-B im Allgemeinen vernachlässigt werden kann, konnte an Nd-Fe-B-Schichten nach dem Aufbringen einer Dehnung auf ein flexibles Substrat eine deutliche inverse Magnetostriktion induziert werden. Die anisotrope Dehnung in der Schicht, die die Symmetrie in der Schichtebene bricht, beeinflusst die Öffnungswinkel bei der Spinreorientierung. Damit wurde unterhalb der Spinreorientierungstemperatur eine elliptische Verzerrung der Anisotropie in der Schichtebene erreicht, die Übergangstemperatur selbst änderte sich dagegen nicht signifikant.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Neste trabalho foram estudadas as propriedades estruturais e termomagnéticas dos pseudobinários Ho1-yGdyAl2, através de abordagens experimentais e teóricas. A parte experimental envolveu a preparação de cinco amostras, com as concentrações y = 0, 0,25, 0,5, 0,75 e 1, assim como medidas de magnetização, calor especifico e da variação adiabática da temperatura. Na parte teórica usamos um hamiltoniano modelo que leva em consideração a interação dos íons com o campo magnético aplicado, com o campo elétrico cristalino e a troca entre os íons magnéticos. A entropia da rede foi considerada na aproximação de Debye e a entropia eletrônica na aproximação do gás de elétrons livres. A influência das reorientações de spin, espontâneas e induzidas pelo campo magnético, na magnetização e no calor especifico foram investigadas sistematicamente tanto a partir de dados experimentais quanto teoricamente. Também obtemos resultados teóricos para a variação de entropia e variação adiabática da temperatura alterando a intensidade ou a direção do campo magnético. / In this work the structural and thermomagnetic properties of the pseudobinaries Ho1-yGdyAl2 have been studied by experimental and theoretical approaches. The experimental part included the preparation of five samples, with concentrations y = 0, 0,25, 0,5, 0,75 and 1, as well as magnetization, specific heat and adiabatic temperature change measurements. In the theoretical part we used a model Hamiltonian which includes the interaction of the ions with the applied magnetic field, the crystalline electrical field and exchange interactions with others magnetic ions. The lattice entropy has been considered within Debyes approach and the electronic entropy as that of a free electron gas. The spin reorientation influence, spontaneous and magnetic field induced ones, in magnetization and specific heat has been systematically investigated either from experimental data as well as theoretically. We have also obtained theoretical results for the isothermal entropy change and the adiabatic temperature change by modifying either the magnetic field strength or its direction.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Neste trabalho foram estudadas as propriedades estruturais e termomagnéticas dos pseudobinários Ho1-yGdyAl2, através de abordagens experimentais e teóricas. A parte experimental envolveu a preparação de cinco amostras, com as concentrações y = 0, 0,25, 0,5, 0,75 e 1, assim como medidas de magnetização, calor especifico e da variação adiabática da temperatura. Na parte teórica usamos um hamiltoniano modelo que leva em consideração a interação dos íons com o campo magnético aplicado, com o campo elétrico cristalino e a troca entre os íons magnéticos. A entropia da rede foi considerada na aproximação de Debye e a entropia eletrônica na aproximação do gás de elétrons livres. A influência das reorientações de spin, espontâneas e induzidas pelo campo magnético, na magnetização e no calor especifico foram investigadas sistematicamente tanto a partir de dados experimentais quanto teoricamente. Também obtemos resultados teóricos para a variação de entropia e variação adiabática da temperatura alterando a intensidade ou a direção do campo magnético. / In this work the structural and thermomagnetic properties of the pseudobinaries Ho1-yGdyAl2 have been studied by experimental and theoretical approaches. The experimental part included the preparation of five samples, with concentrations y = 0, 0,25, 0,5, 0,75 and 1, as well as magnetization, specific heat and adiabatic temperature change measurements. In the theoretical part we used a model Hamiltonian which includes the interaction of the ions with the applied magnetic field, the crystalline electrical field and exchange interactions with others magnetic ions. The lattice entropy has been considered within Debyes approach and the electronic entropy as that of a free electron gas. The spin reorientation influence, spontaneous and magnetic field induced ones, in magnetization and specific heat has been systematically investigated either from experimental data as well as theoretically. We have also obtained theoretical results for the isothermal entropy change and the adiabatic temperature change by modifying either the magnetic field strength or its direction.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / O efeito magnetocalórico, base da refrigeração magnética, é caracterizado por duas quantidades: a variação isotérmica da entropia (ΔST) e a variação adiabática da temperatura (ΔTS); que são obtidas sob variações na intensidade de um campo magnético aplicado. Em sistemas que apresentam anisotropia magnética, pode‐se definir o efeito magnetocalórico anisotrópico, o qual, por definição, é calculado sob variações na direção de aplicação de um campo magnético cuja intensidade mantém‐se fixa, e é caracterizado por duas quantidades: a variação anisotrópico‐isotérmica da entropia (ΔSan) e a variação anisotrópico‐adiabática da temperatura (ΔTan). O efeito magnetocalórico e o efeito magnetocalórico anisotrópico foram estudados nos compostos intermetálicos formados por terras e outros materiais não magnéticos: RNi2, RNi5, RZn e Gd1‐nPrnAl2. Os cálculos foram feitos partindo de hamiltonianos modelo que incluem as interações de troca, Zeeman, de campo cristalino e quadrupolar. / The magnetic refrigeration is based on the magnetocaloric effect. The magnetocaloric potential is characterized by the two thermodynamics quantities: the isothermal entropy change (ΔSiso) and the adiabatic temperature change (ΔTad), which are calculated upon a change in the intensity of the applied magnetic field. In anisotropic magnetic systems it is observed a change in the magnetocaloric effect, since this potential becomes strongly dependent on the direction in which the external magnetic field is applied. The anisotropy in such magnetic systems can lead to an inverse magnetocaloric effect, as well as to the definition of an anisotropic magnetocaloric effect, that by definition is calculated upon a magnetic field which intensity is kept fixed and which orientation is changed from a hard direction of magnetization to the easy direction of magnetization. This anisotropic magnetocaloric effect was performed for the RAl2 intermetallic compounds considering a microscopic model Hamiltonian that includes the Zeeman interaction, the exchange interaction (taken in the mean field approximation) and the crystalline electrical field, that is responsible for the anisotropy in the RAl2 compounds. The anisotropic magnetocaloric was fully investigated for the serie RAl2 and compared with the usual magnetocaloric effect and several curves of (ΔSiso) and (ΔTad) were obtained.

Die vorliegende Arbeit präsentiert die ersten detaillierten Untersuchungen des Spin-Reorientierungs-Übergangs in epitaktischen NdCo5-Schichten. Die Proben, die mit gepulster Laserdeposition hergestellt wurden, konnten sowohl als in-plane- als auch als out-of-plane-texturierte Schichten präpariert werden. Für beide Wachstumsvarianten ergaben Röntgendiffraktometrie- und Texturmessungen eine sehr gute Texturierung mit einer nahezu einheitlichen Orientierung der c-Achse, die eine Untersuchung der magnetischen Eigenschaften entlang ausgewählter kristallografischer Richtungen ermöglichte. Die globalen Magnetisierungsmessungen der In-plane-Proben zeigten einen Spin-Reorientierungs-Übergang von einer magnetisch leichten c-Achse für Temperaturen oberhalb von 310 K über einen magnetisch leichten Kegel hin zu einer magnetisch leichten Ebene (a-Achse) unterhalb von 255 K. Die Übergangstemperaturen liegen damit geringfügig über den bisher an Massivproben gemessenen Werten. Aus den magnetischen Hysteresemessungen wurden die magnetokristallinen Anisotropiekonstanten erster und zweiter Ordnung für den Temperaturbereich der magnetisch leichten c-Achse und der magnetisch leichten Ebene ermittelt. Die Untersuchungen der Out-of-plane-Proben wiesen die Existenz einer magnetokristallinen Anisotropie höherer als zweiter Ordnung nach. Sie bewirkt ein unterschiedliches Schaltverhalten der parallel zur a- bzw. b-Achse gemessenen magnetischen Hysteresekurven im Temperaturregime der magnetisch leichten Ebene. Für die in-plane-texturierten Schichten wurde das Domänenmuster und dessen Änderung mit der Temperatur im gesamten Spin-Reorientierungs-Bereich analysiert. Diese Untersuchungen basieren auf in Kooperation mit der Universität Hamburg durchgeführten SEMPA-Messungen. Oberhalb von 318 K liegt eine Zweidomänenkonfiguration mit einer Ausrichtung der Magnetisierung parallel zur c-Achse vor, die beim Abkühlen in das Regime des magnetisch leichten Kegels in einen Vierdomänenzustand übergeht. Unterhalb von 252 K bildet sich eine Zweidomänenkonfiguration mit parallel zur a-Achse orientierter Magnetisierung. Diese lokalen Messungen bestätigten den Spin-Reorientierungs-Übergang mit zu den globalen Magnetisierungsmessungen vergleichbaren Übergangstemperaturen. Für charakteristisch orientierte Domänenwände erfolgten genauere Analysen der Magnetisierungsprozesse in den angrenzenden Domänen. Um ein erweitertes Verständnis der Domänenkonfiguration, deren Temperaturabhängigkeit und der vorhandenen Domänenwände zu erarbeiten, erfolgten mikromagnetische Simulationsrechnungen für ausgewählte Temperaturen. Die Berechnungen wurden sowohl für homogene Systeme als auch für Geometrien mit verschiedenen Pinningzentren durchgeführt. Die Analyse der Domänenwände ergab, dass ihr Bloch- oder Néel-Charakter und die Domänenwandweite von der Temperatur sowie ihrer Ausrichtung parallel zur c- oder a-Achse abhängt. / This thesis presents the first detailed investigation of the spin-reorientation-transition in epitaxial NdCo5 thin films. The samples were prepared by pulsed laser deposition as in-plane or out-of-plane textured films. For both kinds of samples X-ray diffraction and texture measurements revealed a high degree of texture with one common orientation of the c-axis within the film, which allowed an investigation of the magnetic properties along distinct crystallographic directions. Global magnetization measurements of the in-plane textured films showed a spin-reorientation from a magnetic easy axis (c-axis) at temperatures above 310 K via a magnetic easy cone to a magnetic easy plane (a-axis) at temperatures below 255 K. The transition temperatures are slightly higher than values reported for bulk samples. The magnetocrystalline anisotropy constants of first and second order were determined for the regime of the magnetic easy axis and plane. Measurements of the out-of-plane textured films verified the existence of a magnetocrystalline anisotropy of order larger than two, which becomes obvious from a different magnetic switching behavior along the a- and b-axis in the temperature regime of the magnetic easy plane. The domain structure and its changes with temperature were investigated for the in-plane textured films. There exists a two domain state at temperatures above 318 K with an orientation of the magnetization parallel to the c-axis from which a four domain state evolves when cooling down the sample to the easy cone state. Finally, a two domain state exists in the regime of the magnetic easy plane (easy a-axis) with an orientation of the magnetization parallel to the a-axis at temperatures below 252 K. The local measurements confirm the spin-reorientation-transition with transition temperatures comparable to those derived from global magnetization measurements. In addition, a detailed analysis of the magnetization processes for some characteristically oriented domain walls was performed. Micromagnetic simulations were carried out for selected temperatures to achieve a deeper understanding of the temperature dependence of the domain configuration and of the domain walls. The simulations considered homogeneous systems as well as systems with pinning centers. An analysis of the domain walls showed that their character and width depend on temperature and the orientation parallel to the a- or c-axis.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / O efeito magnetocalórico, base da refrigeração magnética, é caracterizado por duas quantidades: a variação isotérmica da entropia (ΔST) e a variação adiabática da temperatura (ΔTS); que são obtidas sob variações na intensidade de um campo magnético aplicado. Em sistemas que apresentam anisotropia magnética, pode‐se definir o efeito magnetocalórico anisotrópico, o qual, por definição, é calculado sob variações na direção de aplicação de um campo magnético cuja intensidade mantém‐se fixa, e é caracterizado por duas quantidades: a variação anisotrópico‐isotérmica da entropia (ΔSan) e a variação anisotrópico‐adiabática da temperatura (ΔTan). O efeito magnetocalórico e o efeito magnetocalórico anisotrópico foram estudados nos compostos intermetálicos formados por terras e outros materiais não magnéticos: RNi2, RNi5, RZn e Gd1‐nPrnAl2. Os cálculos foram feitos partindo de hamiltonianos modelo que incluem as interações de troca, Zeeman, de campo cristalino e quadrupolar. / The magnetic refrigeration is based on the magnetocaloric effect. The magnetocaloric potential is characterized by the two thermodynamics quantities: the isothermal entropy change (ΔSiso) and the adiabatic temperature change (ΔTad), which are calculated upon a change in the intensity of the applied magnetic field. In anisotropic magnetic systems it is observed a change in the magnetocaloric effect, since this potential becomes strongly dependent on the direction in which the external magnetic field is applied. The anisotropy in such magnetic systems can lead to an inverse magnetocaloric effect, as well as to the definition of an anisotropic magnetocaloric effect, that by definition is calculated upon a magnetic field which intensity is kept fixed and which orientation is changed from a hard direction of magnetization to the easy direction of magnetization. This anisotropic magnetocaloric effect was performed for the RAl2 intermetallic compounds considering a microscopic model Hamiltonian that includes the Zeeman interaction, the exchange interaction (taken in the mean field approximation) and the crystalline electrical field, that is responsible for the anisotropy in the RAl2 compounds. The anisotropic magnetocaloric was fully investigated for the serie RAl2 and compared with the usual magnetocaloric effect and several curves of (ΔSiso) and (ΔTad) were obtained.

The work in this thesis focuses on the preparation of epitaxial Nd-Fe-B thin films using pulsed laser deposition for good hard magnetic properties. They are suitable for a basic understanding of the intrinsic magnetic properties. Compositional control was necessary to achieve phase formation with improved magnetic properties. Nd-Fe-B samples were prepared on single crystal MgO (001) substrates with different buffer layers in order to obtain good textures with different surface morphology. The smooth and continuous epitaxial films were suitable for performing magnetization measurements under stress. Although the magnetostriction is easily neglected in the Nd2Fe14B compound, distinguishable inverse magnetostriction was observed by conventional tensile elongation with a flexible substrate. As a result, anisotropic strain in the film, which breaks the in-plane symmetry, affected the opening angle during the spin reorientation. Therefore an elliptical distortion of the in-plane anisotropy below the spin reorientation temperature of Nd2Fe14B was obtained, whereas the transition temperature itself was not influenced significantly. / Diese Arbeit behandelt die Herstellung dünner epitaktischer Nd-Fe-B-Schichten mit gepulster Laserdeposition mit dem Ziel, gute hartmagnetische Eigenschaften zu erreichen. Diese Schichten sind außerdem für das Verständnis grundlegender magnetischer Eigenschaften geeignet. Die Kontrolle der Zusammensetzung ist notwendig, um die Phasenbildung und optimale hartmagnetische Eigenschaften zu erreichen. Nd-Fe-B-Schichten wurden auf einkristallinen MgO (001)-Substraten mit verschiedenen Buffern deponiert, um unterschiedliche Texturen und Oberflächenmorphologien einzustellen. Die glatten kontinuierlichen epitaktischen Schichten ermöglichen die Messung der Magnetisierung bei gleichzeitig angelegter mechanischer Spannung. Obwohl die Magnetostriktion bei Nd-Fe-B im Allgemeinen vernachlässigt werden kann, konnte an Nd-Fe-B-Schichten nach dem Aufbringen einer Dehnung auf ein flexibles Substrat eine deutliche inverse Magnetostriktion induziert werden. Die anisotrope Dehnung in der Schicht, die die Symmetrie in der Schichtebene bricht, beeinflusst die Öffnungswinkel bei der Spinreorientierung. Damit wurde unterhalb der Spinreorientierungstemperatur eine elliptische Verzerrung der Anisotropie in der Schichtebene erreicht, die Übergangstemperatur selbst änderte sich dagegen nicht signifikant.

Die vorliegende Arbeit präsentiert die ersten detaillierten Untersuchungen des Spin-Reorientierungs-Übergangs in epitaktischen NdCo5-Schichten. Die Proben, die mit gepulster Laserdeposition hergestellt wurden, konnten sowohl als in-plane- als auch als out-of-plane-texturierte Schichten präpariert werden. Für beide Wachstumsvarianten ergaben Röntgendiffraktometrie- und Texturmessungen eine sehr gute Texturierung mit einer nahezu einheitlichen Orientierung der c-Achse, die eine Untersuchung der magnetischen Eigenschaften entlang ausgewählter kristallografischer Richtungen ermöglichte. Die globalen Magnetisierungsmessungen der In-plane-Proben zeigten einen Spin-Reorientierungs-Übergang von einer magnetisch leichten c-Achse für Temperaturen oberhalb von 310 K über einen magnetisch leichten Kegel hin zu einer magnetisch leichten Ebene (a-Achse) unterhalb von 255 K. Die Übergangstemperaturen liegen damit geringfügig über den bisher an Massivproben gemessenen Werten. Aus den magnetischen Hysteresemessungen wurden die magnetokristallinen Anisotropiekonstanten erster und zweiter Ordnung für den Temperaturbereich der magnetisch leichten c-Achse und der magnetisch leichten Ebene ermittelt. Die Untersuchungen der Out-of-plane-Proben wiesen die Existenz einer magnetokristallinen Anisotropie höherer als zweiter Ordnung nach. Sie bewirkt ein unterschiedliches Schaltverhalten der parallel zur a- bzw. b-Achse gemessenen magnetischen Hysteresekurven im Temperaturregime der magnetisch leichten Ebene. Für die in-plane-texturierten Schichten wurde das Domänenmuster und dessen Änderung mit der Temperatur im gesamten Spin-Reorientierungs-Bereich analysiert. Diese Untersuchungen basieren auf in Kooperation mit der Universität Hamburg durchgeführten SEMPA-Messungen. Oberhalb von 318 K liegt eine Zweidomänenkonfiguration mit einer Ausrichtung der Magnetisierung parallel zur c-Achse vor, die beim Abkühlen in das Regime des magnetisch leichten Kegels in einen Vierdomänenzustand übergeht. Unterhalb von 252 K bildet sich eine Zweidomänenkonfiguration mit parallel zur a-Achse orientierter Magnetisierung. Diese lokalen Messungen bestätigten den Spin-Reorientierungs-Übergang mit zu den globalen Magnetisierungsmessungen vergleichbaren Übergangstemperaturen. Für charakteristisch orientierte Domänenwände erfolgten genauere Analysen der Magnetisierungsprozesse in den angrenzenden Domänen. Um ein erweitertes Verständnis der Domänenkonfiguration, deren Temperaturabhängigkeit und der vorhandenen Domänenwände zu erarbeiten, erfolgten mikromagnetische Simulationsrechnungen für ausgewählte Temperaturen. Die Berechnungen wurden sowohl für homogene Systeme als auch für Geometrien mit verschiedenen Pinningzentren durchgeführt. Die Analyse der Domänenwände ergab, dass ihr Bloch- oder Néel-Charakter und die Domänenwandweite von der Temperatur sowie ihrer Ausrichtung parallel zur c- oder a-Achse abhängt. / This thesis presents the first detailed investigation of the spin-reorientation-transition in epitaxial NdCo5 thin films. The samples were prepared by pulsed laser deposition as in-plane or out-of-plane textured films. For both kinds of samples X-ray diffraction and texture measurements revealed a high degree of texture with one common orientation of the c-axis within the film, which allowed an investigation of the magnetic properties along distinct crystallographic directions. Global magnetization measurements of the in-plane textured films showed a spin-reorientation from a magnetic easy axis (c-axis) at temperatures above 310 K via a magnetic easy cone to a magnetic easy plane (a-axis) at temperatures below 255 K. The transition temperatures are slightly higher than values reported for bulk samples. The magnetocrystalline anisotropy constants of first and second order were determined for the regime of the magnetic easy axis and plane. Measurements of the out-of-plane textured films verified the existence of a magnetocrystalline anisotropy of order larger than two, which becomes obvious from a different magnetic switching behavior along the a- and b-axis in the temperature regime of the magnetic easy plane. The domain structure and its changes with temperature were investigated for the in-plane textured films. There exists a two domain state at temperatures above 318 K with an orientation of the magnetization parallel to the c-axis from which a four domain state evolves when cooling down the sample to the easy cone state. Finally, a two domain state exists in the regime of the magnetic easy plane (easy a-axis) with an orientation of the magnetization parallel to the a-axis at temperatures below 252 K. The local measurements confirm the spin-reorientation-transition with transition temperatures comparable to those derived from global magnetization measurements. In addition, a detailed analysis of the magnetization processes for some characteristically oriented domain walls was performed. Micromagnetic simulations were carried out for selected temperatures to achieve a deeper understanding of the temperature dependence of the domain configuration and of the domain walls. The simulations considered homogeneous systems as well as systems with pinning centers. An analysis of the domain walls showed that their character and width depend on temperature and the orientation parallel to the a- or c-axis.