Interface phenomena in ferromagnet/TaOx-based systems: Damping, perpendicular magnetic anisotropy, and Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction

Microstrip line ferromagnetic resonance (MS-FMR) and Brillouin light scattering (BLS) in the Damon-Eshbach geometry were used to investigate the perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA), the damping and the interfacial Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya (iDMI) interaction in ferromagnetic $(\mathrm{FM})/\mathrm{Ta}{\mathrm{O}}_{x}\text{\ensuremath{-}}\mathrm{based}$ systems as a function of the ferromagnetic ($\mathrm{FM}=\mathrm{Co}$ or ${\mathrm{Co}}_{8}{\mathrm{Fe}}_{72}{\mathrm{B}}_{20}$) and the $\mathrm{Ta}{\mathrm{O}}_{x}$ thicknesses (oxidation level). The analysis of the experimental FMR and BLS data has shown that the effective magnetization, the Gilbert damping parameter \ensuremath{\alpha} and the iDMI are inversely proportional to the CoFeB and the Co films thickness. The BLS investigation of the iDMI variation versus the $\mathrm{Ta}{\mathrm{O}}_{x}$ thickness and oxidation level reveals a contribution of $\mathrm{FM}/\mathrm{Ta}{\mathrm{O}}_{x}$ mediated by the presence of a Rashba field at this interface. Finally, we evidenced a correlation between iDMI and PMA by varying the Cu spacer thickness in the $\mathrm{Pt}/\mathrm{Cu}/\mathrm{Co}/\mathrm{Ta}{\mathrm{O}}_{x}$ system and we showed that both PMA and iDMI are localized at the first atomic monolayers of the Pt/Co interface. The observed non-linear dependence of PMA versus iDMI constant is attributed to similar interface orbital hybridizations involved in both quantities.