title: Magnetostrictive thin films for microwave spintronics.
abstract: Multiferroic composite materials, consisting of coupled ferromagnetic and piezoelectric phases, are of great importance in the drive towards creating faster, smaller and more energy efficient devices for information and communications technologies. Such devices require thin ferromagnetic films with large magnetostriction and narrow microwave resonance linewidths. Both properties are often degraded, compared to bulk materials, due to structural imperfections and interface effects in the thin films. We report the development of epitaxial thin films of Galfenol (Fe81Ga19) with magnetostriction as large as the best reported values for bulk material. This allows the magnetic anisotropy and microwave resonant frequency to be tuned by voltage-induced strain, with a larger magnetoelectric response and a narrower linewidth than any previously reported Galfenol thin films. The combination of these properties make epitaxial thin films excellent candidates for developing tunable devices for magnetic information storage, processing and microwave communications.
authors.affiliation: School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: D E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Parkes
authors.forename: L R
authors.initials: LR
authors.lastname: Shelford
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Wadley
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Holý
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: A T
authors.initials: AT
authors.lastname: Hindmarch
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: van der Laan
authors.forename: R P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Campion
authors.forename: K W
authors.initials: KW
authors.lastname: Edmonds
authors.forename: S A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Cavill
authors.forename: A W
authors.initials: AW
authors.lastname: Rushforth