Understanding the non-uniform Gd distribution in Rare Earth:Transition Metal ferrimagnetic alloys for spintronics applications

Energy efficient alternatives to conventional electronic systems are key for a sustainable future. One avenue for this is to develop devices based upon the manipulation of the magnetic spin of the electron, a field known as spintronics. Thin film spintronic systems typically utilise ferromagnetic layers, however these materials are not without problems, due to electron drift from Hall effects and often requiring large current densities to control their state. An alternative gathering interest are ferrimagnetic materials, in which two competing magnetic sublattices cancel each other at a given composition or temperature. Recent work has shown that some thin films exhibit diffusion of their constituent components, which has profound implications for devices requiring a specific compensation point. We aim to use the magnetic depth profiling only achievable with neutrons to investigate this.