Structural and Magnetic Study of Magnetic MnAl Thin Films by Reactive Ion Beam Deposition

The metastable magnetic $\tau $ phase of MnAl binary alloy with unique hard magnetic properties was discovered a long time ago followed by extensive investigation of its structure and magnetic properties but mainly on bulk samples instead of ultra thin films. Here we present a structural and magnetic study of $\tau $ phase MnAl thin films prepared by Reactive Biased Target Ion Beam Deposition. We found that the choice of substrate and the concomitant interfacial strain plays a very important role in determining the magnetic anisotropy of MnAl thin films. The effects of fabrication conditions and post-deposition annealing treatment on the film properties will be also discussed.