Perpendicular magnetic anisotropy of TiN buffered Co2FeAl/MgO bilayers

We investigated crystallographic and magnetic properties of TiN buffered Co2FeAl thin films. Room temperature deposition of the Heusler compound led to high crystalline ordering. The layer thickness and post annealing temperature dependence of the coercivity, squareness ratio, and the anisotropy constant of the thin Co2FeAl films were measured. High perpendicular magnetic anisotropy was observed for the 0.9 nm thin Co2FeAl film. A squareness ratio of one was reached at 325 °C post annealing temperature, which is lower compared to previous studies. It remained constant for temperatures up to 500 °C. Surface sensitive x-ray absorption and x-ray magneto circular dichroism measurements were carried out, in order to investigate the element specific magnetic moments. A magnetic moment of 5.4 ± 0.4 μB /f.u. for the 1 nm thin Co2FeAl was determined, which is in good agreement with the previously reported values for Cr or MgO buffered Co2FeAl.