Magnetization dynamics and its scattering mechanism in thin CoFeB films with interfacial anisotropy

TL;DR

This study investigates how interfacial anisotropy affects magnetization dynamics in thin CoFeB films, revealing a temperature-dependent motional narrowing effect that influences FMR linewidths and device performance.

Contribution

It demonstrates that interfacial anisotropy causes motional narrowing in FMR spectra, a previously overlooked mechanism impacting thin film spin dynamics.

Findings

Narrower FMR linewidths at higher temperatures observed.

Intrinsic damping is ruled out as the cause.

Interfacial anisotropy induces motional narrowing effect.

Abstract

Studies of magnetization dynamics have incessantly facilitated the discovery of fundamentally novel physical phenomena, making steady headway in the development of magnetic and spintronics devices. The dynamics can be induced and detected electrically, offering new functionalities in advanced electronics at the nanoscale. However, its scattering mechanism is still disputed. Understanding the mechanism in thin films is especially important, because most spintronics devices are made from stacks of multilayers with nanometer thickness. The stacks are known to possess interfacial magnetic anisotropy, a central property for applications, whose influence on the dynamics remains unknown. Here, we investigate the impact of interfacial anisotropy by adopting CoFeB/MgO as a model system. Through systematic and complementary measurements of ferromagnetic resonance (FMR), on a series of thin films, we identify narrower FMR linewidths at higher temperatures. We explicitly rule out the temperature dependence of intrinsic damping as a possible cause, and it is also not expected from existing extrinsic scattering mechanisms for ferromagnets. We ascribe this observation to motional narrowing, an old concept so far neglected in the analyses of FMR spectra. The effect is confirmed to originate from interfacial anisotropy, impacting the practical technology of spin-based nanodevices up to room temperature.