Influence of structure and cation distribution on magnetic anisotropy and damping in Zn/Al doped nickel ferrites

Abstract

An in-depth analysis of Zn/Al-doped nickel ferrites grown by reactive magnetron sputtering is relevant due to their promising characteristics for applications in spintronics. The material is insulating and ferromagnetic at room temperature with an additional low magnetic damping. By studying the complex interplay between strain and cation distribution their impact on the magnetic properties, i.e., anisotropy, damping, and g-factor is unravelled. In particular, a strong influence of the lattice site occupation of NiTd2+ and cation coordination of FeOh2+ on the intrinsic damping is found. Furthermore, the critical role of the incorporation of Zn2+ and Al3+ is evidenced by comparison to a sample of altered composition. Specifically, the dopant Zn2+ is evidenced as a tuning factor for NiTd2+ and therefore unquenched orbital moment directly controlling the g-factor. A strain-independent reduction of the magnetic anisotropy and damping by adapting the cation distribution is demonstrated.