Materials Optimization and GHz Spin Dynamics of Metallic Ferromagnetic Thin Film Heterostructures

Metallic ferromagnetic (FM) thin film heterostructures play an important role in emerging magnetoelectronic devices, which introduce the spin degree of freedom of electrons into conventional charge-based electronic devices. As the majority of magnetoelectronic devices operate in the GHz frequency range, it is critical to understand the high-frequency magnetization dynamics in these structures. In this thesis, we start with the static magnetic properties of FM thin films and their optimization via the field-sputtering process incorporating a specially designed in-situ electromagnet. We focus on the origins of anisotropy and hysteresis/coercivity in soft magnetic thin films, which are most relevant to magentic susceptibility and power dissipation in applications in the sub-GHz frequency regime, such as magnetic-core integrated inductors. Next we explore GHz magnetization dynamics in thin-film heterostructures, both in semi-infinite samples and confined geometries. All investigations are rooted in the Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert (LLG) equation, the equation of motion for magnetization. The phenomenological Gilbert damping parameter in the LLG equation has been interpreted, since the 1970'