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Nitrogen Tuned Charge Redistribution and Orbital Reconfiguration in Fe/MgO Interface for Significant Interfacial Magnetism Tunability
Author(s) -
Wang Shiru,
Yao Mingke,
Li Zirun,
Feng Chun,
Wang Lei,
Tang Xiaolei,
Kang Peng,
Zhang Bin,
Mi Wenbo,
Yu Guanghua
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
advanced functional materials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 6.069
H-Index - 322
eISSN - 1616-3028
pISSN - 1616-301X
DOI - 10.1002/adfm.201806677
Subject(s) - materials science , magnetism , condensed matter physics , magnetic anisotropy , ferromagnetism , anisotropy , magnetic field , magnetization , optics , physics , quantum mechanics
Modulating the orbital configuration of ferromagnetic metal (FM)/metal‐oxide (MO) interfaces is crucial for obtaining a controllable interfacial magnetism for constructing energy‐efficient magnetic memory and logic devices. The traditional works of orbital regulation depend on external fields, such as electric field, temperature field, and stress field. This work proposes a novel orbital modulation strategy by modifying the coordination environment of FM/MO interface with nitrogen (N) incorporation. By preparing a Fe/MgO bilayer at a N 2 atmosphere, N atoms occupy the interstitial sites of the Fe lattice, which induces a charge redistribution at the Fe/MgO interface and toggles a prominent orbital reconstruction of Fe with an increment of out‐of‐plane orbital occupancy. Therefore, the orbital magnetism is tuned effectively, which remarkably strengthens the interfacial magnetic anisotropy energy by 0.6 erg cm −2 and enables a broad magnetic anisotropy tunability from in‐plane to perpendicular direction. Besides, the Fe thickness for maintaining perpendicular magnetic anisotropy extends from less than 1 to 3 nm, which is favorable for improving the signal‐to‐noise ratio and stability of devices in nanoscale. These findings provide an external‐field‐independent strategy of orbital engineering for tailoring obit‐controlled performance at FM/MO heterointerfaces, which practically advances the magnetic storage and logic devices.