Effect of annealing on Co2FeAl0.5Si0.5thin films: A magneto-optical and x-ray absorption study

A series of Al and MgO-capped Co${}_{2}$FeAl${}_{0.5}$Si${}_{0.5}$ epitaxial thin films grown on MgO with various levels of L2${}_{1}$ ordering was obtained by in situ annealing. The films were studied by means of x-ray absorption spectroscopy, x-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD), magneto-optical Kerr effect magnetometry, and Brillouin light scattering. We find the anisotropy constants decrease, while the spin wave stiffness increases as the samples are annealed to higher temperatures. The magnetization as determined by Brillouin light scattering reveals a maximum value at intermediate annealing temperatures. Surprisingly, the orbital-to-spin-moment ratio (as seen from XMCD) is essenti…