Sputter growth and characterization of metamagnetic B2-ordered FeRh epilayers

Chemically ordered alloys are useful in a variety of magnetic nanotechnologies. They are most conveniently prepared at an industrial scale using sputtering techniques. Here we describe a method for preparing epitaxial thin films of B2-ordered FeRh by sputter deposition onto single crystal MgO substrates. Deposition at a slow rate onto a heated substrate allows time for the adatoms to both settle into a lattice with a well-defined epitaxial relationship with the substrate and also to find their proper places in the Fe and Rh sublattices of the B2 structure. The structure is conveniently characterized with X-ray reflectometry and diffraction and can be visualised directly using transmission electron micrograph cross-sections. B2-ordered FeRh exhibits an unusual metamagnetic phase transition: the ground state is antiferromagnetic but the alloy transforms into a ferromagnet on heating with a typical transition temperature of about 380 K. This is accompanied by a 1% volume expansion of the unit cell: isotropic in bulk, but laterally clamped in an epilayer. The presence of the antiferromagnetic ground state and the associated first order phase transition is very sensitive to the correct equiatomic stoichiometry and proper B2 ordering, and so is a convenient means to demonstrate the quality of the layers that can be deposited with this approach. We also give some examples of the various techniques by which the change in phase can be detected.