Surface and magnetic characteristics of Ni-Mn-Ga/Si (100) thin film

• Main Authors: Kumar, S. Vinodh, Raja, M. Manivel, Pandi, R. Senthur, Pandyan, R. Kodi, Mahendran, M.
• Format: Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Subjects: ATOMIC FORCE MICROSCOPY; AUSTENITE; CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY; Film thickness; GALLIUM COMPOUNDS; GRAIN SIZE; Magnetic domains; MAGNETIC FIELDS; Magnetic properties; Manganese; MANGANESE COMPOUNDS; MARTENSITE; Microscopy; Nickel; NICKEL COMPOUNDS; POLYCRYSTALS; ROUGHNESS; SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPY; SILICON; Silicon substrates; Solid phases; SUBSTRATES; Surface roughness; SURFACES; THICKNESS; THIN FILMS
• ISSN: 0094-243X; 1551-7616
• DOI: 10.1063/1.4947940

Polycrystalline Ni-Mn-Ga thin films have been deposited on Si (100) substrate with different film thickness. The influence of film thickness on the phase structure and magnetic domain of the films has been examined by scanning electron microscope, atomic force microscopy and magnetic force microscopy. Analysis of structural parameters indicates that the film at lower thickness exhibits the coexistence of both austenite and martensite phase, whereas at higher thickness L12 cubic non magnetic phase is noticed. The grains size and the surface roughness increase along with the film thickness and attain the maximum of 45 nm and 34.96 nm, respectively. At lower film thickness, the magnetic stripe domain is found like maze pattern with dark and bright images, while at higher thickness the absence of stripe domains is observed. The magnetic results reveal that the films strongly depend on their phase structure and microstructure which influence by the film thickness.