Co layer Thickness Driven Structural Evolution and Magnetic Behaviour of Co/Ir/Co Trilayers
Abstract
Ferromagnetic heavy-metal (FM/HM) trilayer heterostructures provide a versatile platform for investigating the interplay between structural and magnetic properties. In this study, we investigate the effect of Co-layer thickness on the structural and magnetic properties of sputter-deposited Co(tCo)/Ir(5 nm)/Co(tCo) varying from 2 to 10 nm. Structural characterization using grazing-incidence X-ray diffraction (GIXRD) and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) reveals a nanocrystalline structure, with the crystallite size increasing with Co-layer thickness. Furthermore, X-ray reflectivity (XRR) reveals a thickness-dependent variation in interface morphology, with the interface roughness ratio reaching a maximum at tCo = 4 nm. Temperature-dependent zero-field-cooled and field-cooled (ZFC-FC) magnetization measurements reveal thickness-dependent characteristic temperatures and multiple relaxation regimes in selected samples, indicating complex thermally activated magnetic behaviour. In contrast, field-dependent hysteresis measurements reveal that the saturation magnetization increases with Co-layer thickness, whereas the coercivity exhibits a pronounced non-monotonic variation, with enhanced values at intermediate thicknesses. Moreover, low-temperature hysteresis loops display thickness-dependent exchange-bias-like shifts, particularly for tCo = 2-$4$ nm. These findings highlight the strong influence of Co-layer thickness on the structural and magnetic properties of Co/Ir/Co trilayers.
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BibTeX
@misc{subhavenkadesh2026layer,
title = {{Co layer Thickness Driven Structural Evolution and Magnetic Behaviour of Co/Ir/Co Trilayers}},
author = {Subhavenkadesh SS and Dushyant Singh and Tharundev V V and Subha Maity and Navneet Sharma and Vigneshwari SR and Krista R. Khiangte},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2610.33595},
eprint = {2610.33595},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.33595},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Co layer Thickness Driven Structural Evolution and Magnetic Behaviour of Co/Ir/Co Trilayers
AU - Subhavenkadesh SS
AU - Dushyant Singh
AU - Tharundev V V
AU - Subha Maity
AU - Navneet Sharma
AU - Vigneshwari SR
AU - Krista R. Khiangte
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/24
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2610.33595
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.33595
AB - Ferromagnetic heavy-metal (FM/HM) trilayer heterostructures provide a versatile platform for investigating the interplay between structural and magnetic properties. In this study, we investigate the effect of Co-layer thickness on the structural and magnetic properties of sputter-deposited Co(t_Co)/Ir(5 nm)/Co(t_Co) varying from 2 to 10 nm. Structural characterization using grazing-incidence X-ray diffraction (GIXRD) and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) reveals a nanocrystalline structure, with the crystallite size increasing with Co-layer thickness. Furthermore, X-ray reflectivity (XRR) reveals a thickness-dependent variation in interface morphology, with the interface roughness ratio reaching a maximum at t_Co = 4 nm. Temperature-dependent zero-field-cooled and field-cooled (ZFC-FC) magnetization measurements reveal thickness-dependent characteristic temperatures and multiple relaxation regimes in selected samples, indicating complex thermally activated magnetic behaviour. In contrast, field-dependent hysteresis measurements reveal that the saturation magnetization increases with Co-layer thickness, whereas the coercivity exhibits a pronounced non-monotonic variation, with enhanced values at intermediate thicknesses. Moreover, low-temperature hysteresis loops display thickness-dependent exchange-bias-like shifts, particularly for t_Co = 2-$4$ nm. These findings highlight the strong influence of Co-layer thickness on the structural and magnetic properties of Co/Ir/Co trilayers.
ER -