Phase transitions occurring within spatially confined
regions can
be useful for generating nanoscale material property modulations.
Here we describe a magneto-structural phase transition in a binary
alloy, where a structural transition from short-range order (SRO)
to body centered cubic (bcc) results in the formation of depth-adjustable
ferromagnetic layers, which reveal application-relevant magnetic properties
of high saturation magnetization (M
s)
and low Gilbert damping (α). Here we use Fe60V40 binary alloy films which transform from initially M
s = 17 kA/m (SRO structure) to 747 kA/m (bcc
structure) driven by atomic displacements caused by penetrating ions.
Simulations show that an estimated ∼1 displacement per atom
triggers a structural transition, forming homogeneous ferromagnetic
layers. The thickness of a ferromagnetic layer increases as a step-like
function of the ion fluence. Microwave excitations of the ferromagnetic/non-ferromagnetic
layered system reveals an α = 0.0027 ± 0.0001. The combination
of nanoscale spatial confinement, low α, and high M
s provides a pathway for the rapid patterning of magnetic
and microwave device elements.