Aging of magnetic properties in MgO films

  1. Balcells, Ll. 1
  2. Beltrán, J. I. 2
  3. Martínez-Boubeta, C. 4
  4. Konstantinović, Z. 1
  5. Arbiol, J. 13
  6. Martínez, B. 1
  1. 1 Instituto de Ciencia de Materiales de Barcelona (ICMAB-CSIC) 1 , Campus UAB, Bellaterra 08193, Spain
  2. 2 Universidad Autónoma de Madrid 2 Departamento de Física Teórica de la Materia Condensada, , Madrid 28049, Spain
  3. 3 Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ICREA) 4 , Barcelona 08010, Spain
  4. 4 Universitat de Barcelona 3 Departament d'Electrònica and IN2UB, , Barcelona 08028, Spain
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Journal:
Applied Physics Letters

ISSN: 0003-6951,  1077-3118

Year of publication: 2010

Volume: 97

Issue: 25

Pages: 252503-1-252503-4-

Type: Article

DOI: 10.1063/1.3527963 GOOGLE SCHOLAR lock_openOpen access editor

More publications in: Applied Physics Letters

Abstract

In this work we report on the magnetic behavior of MgO thin films prepared by sputtering. A severe aging process of the ferromagnetic properties is detected in magnetic samples exposed to ambient atmosphere. However, ferromagnetism can be successively switched on again by annealing samples in vacuum. We suggest this behavior reflects the key role played by defects in stabilizing ferromagnetism in MgO films and is likely to be closely related to the hydrogen-driven instability of V-type centers in this material.

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