ARTICLE IN PRESS

Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials 320 (2008) 3276–3281

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jmmm

Permeability enhancement of soft magnetic films through

metamaterial structures
Olivier Acher 
CEA, Le Ripault, F-37260 Monts, France

a r t i c l e in f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The present article proposes a structure consisting of a single magnetic film enclosed in a metamaterial.
Received 15 May 2008 This planar structure can be manufactured using conventional deposition and patterning techniques
Received in revised form commonly utilized in the silicon industry. One example of such a structure was manufactured, and its
18 June 2008
permeability was measured in a wide frequency range and compared to the permeability of its core.
Available online 3 July 2008
Theoretical investigations of this structure were performed in order to establish its permeability as a
PACS: function of the frequency, and an excellent agreement between the predicted and measured values was
41.20.Gz observed. Parametrical studies revealed that the metafilm exhibited two resonances; one below the
75.55.+a gyromagnetic resonance frequency of the magnetic core, and one at a much higher frequency. Metafilms
75.50.+g
are attractive negative permeability materials since they exhibit large negative permeability levels
within a wide frequency range, and since they are readily adjustable. In this respect, they combine the
Keywords:
advantages of metamaterials and of their magnetic cores.
Metamaterial RF
Thin film It has been previously established that the quantity 0 m00 ðf Þf df is a good figure of merit for
Permeability microwave magnetic materials. It is bounded in conventional magnetic materials by a quantity directly
Snoek’s law related to the saturation magnetization. The bounds associated with metafilms were derived, and it was
Sum rule shown that the ultimate limitations of metafilms with regard to this figure of merit were equivalent to
those for conventional magnetic materials in the case of low-frequency operations.
& 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction a resonance frequency. This structure can be manufactured using

conventional processes within the silicon technology. In contrast
Considerable interest has been focused on metamaterials to most planar metamaterial structures, e.g., Split Ring Resonators
during the last decade [1], and this scientific effort dedicated to [1,4], the permeability features are observed for an in-plane
metamaterials has led to numerous advances in the field of microwave magnetic field. This is a very desirable feature, since
microwave materials [2,3]. Among many other results, the the microwave magnetic field is generally in-plane for silicon-
production of materials with large permeability levels and based applications [14–16]. Experimental results are reported, and
without any conventional magnetic constituents such as ferrite it is shown that an existing analytical model accounts for the
or ferromagnetic materials has been demonstrated [4–8]. Con- measured permeability of such materials.
ventional magnetic materials have been used in conjunction with Several simulations based on this model are performed in
metamaterial patterns in various ways [9,10], and in particular, order to display the very attractive possibilities of frequency
magnetic cores made of ferrite or ferromagnetic wires [11,12] have response engineering offered by these metafilms.
been shown to boost the permeability levels attainable in Since the permeability of a metafilm depends not only on the
magnetic metamaterials. However, until recently [13], no meta- magnetic properties of the constitutive ferromagnetic layer, but
material structure that is capable of replacing or supplementing also on the properties of the metastructure, there exists a huge
individual magnetic thin films used for silicon-based applications number of engineering possibilities. For this reason, it is
[14,15] has been proposed. important to find theoretical guidelines that can provide hints
This paper discloses a metamaterial structure based on a on the properties to be obtained for metafilms. In particular, it has
R1
conventional high-permeability thin film resulting in the en- been shown that the integral 0 m00 ðf Þf df is a good figure of merit
hancement of the film permeability to much higher levels close to for magnetic thin films [17,18]. This quantity is bounded. Its bound
has a simple expression as a function of the saturation
magnetization of the magnetic layer. The bound can be only
 Tel.: +33 2 47 34 48 30; fax: +33 2 47 34 51 06. attained on films with good uniform planar orientations and
E-mail address: [email protected] negligible eddy current losses; such films are sometimes termed

0304-8853/$ - see front matter & 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.jmmm.2008.06.039
 ARTICLE IN PRESS

O. Acher / Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials 320 (2008) 3276–3281 3277

‘‘good soft magnetic films’’. It is therefore an important challenge the permeability of the film by one order of magnitude at an
to determine whether a metafilm can present a better figure of equivalent frequency. On the other hand, the metastructure
merit than its constituting ferromagnetic counterpart. This paper quenched the permeability around the gyromagnetic resonance.
provides answers to this query.

3. Permeability model for a metafilm

2. Experimental details and results
3.1. Theoretical approach
The metafilm structure under investigation is illustrated in
Fig. 1a. It consists of a magnetic thin film, wrapped into a hairpin- The permeability of the metafilm can be easily obtained from
like metallic structure, and also contains an insulator that previous research investigations on various types of metamater-
prevents electrical contacts between the metal and the magnetic ials [20,21]. When neglecting the resistivity of the metamaterial
film. The structure can be manufactured using deposition and conductive pattern, we get
patterning technologies commonly used in the silicon industry. In
mmeta
this experiment, the metamaterial structure was manufactured mmeta ¼ (1)
1  LC o2
by wrapping an aluminum/mylar bilayer around a 1-mm-thick
magnetic film. The dimensions of the sample were 9  9 mm2. The where the capacitance C and the inductance L are given by
permeabilities of the ferromagnetic layer as well as of the Z
C ¼ 0  W2 (2)
metafilm were measured using a permeameter described else- eC
where [19]. The raw permeance values provided by the permea-
meter needed to be normalized to a given sample thickness in L ¼ m0 mcore eL (3)
order to provide the permeabilities. For straightforward compar-
here, e is the dielectric constant of the medium between the
isons between the permeabilities of the metafilm and those of the
capacitive conductive plates and eC is its thickness. W and ZW are
core magnetic film, it was better to normalize both measurements
the lateral dimensions of the top capacitive plate. The perme-
to the same thickness: e.g., the thickness of the film, the overall
ability of the core mcore is simply related to the permeability of the
thickness of the metastructure, or any arbitrary value. This latter
ferromagnetic layer mf, the thicknesses of the ferromagnetic and
solution was the one chosen. Fig. 1b represents the experimental
insulating layers ef, as well as the overall thickness of the
values (expressed in arbitrary units) for the permeability of the
metastructure’s internal cavity eL by
core and of the metafilm. It can be clearly seen that the
permeability of the metafilm close to the resonance exceeded mcore ¼ 1 þ tðmf  1Þ (4)
with t ¼ ef/eL.

3.2. Experimental validation

The permeability model was applied to the experimental case

reported above. The simulation was performed using the experi-
mental values of the permeability of the ferromagnetic film mf,
experimental values of ef, eL, and W ¼ ZW ¼ 9 mm. Due to the
thickness of the capacitive gap and the dielectric constant of the
gap material, which consisted in mylar and glue, not being
precisely known, the parameter eC/e was kept as an adjustable
parameter. The simulation is reported in Fig. 1b, and, as can be
seen, an excellent agreement with the experimental results was
observed.

3.3. Theoretical predictions

The model reported above can be used to investigate the

influence of the various characteristics of hairpin-like metafilms
on their microwave response over a wide frequency range. In the
following, the core magnetic film is described using Land-
au–Gilbert equations [22], assuming a saturation magnetization
4pMs ¼ 10 kG, an anisotropy field Hk ¼ 36 Oe, a damping para-
meter a ¼ 2%, and a gyromagnetic constant  g ¼ 3 MHz=Oe. The
thickness of the ferromagnetic layer was ef ¼ 0.4 mm. The skin
effect was taken into account as described elsewhere [23], even
though it only slightly affected the response of the film. The
characteristics of the hairpin metastructures were: W ¼ 9 mm,
eL ¼ 4 mm, e ¼ 3j0.045, eC/Z ¼ 40 mm. The simulation results in a
frequency range from 0 to 15 GHz are reported in Fig. 2. It can be
observed that the magnetic metafilm exhibited a strong peak at
1.3 GHz, i.e., at a frequency somewhat lower than that of the
Fig. 1. (a) An illustration of a metafilm consisting of a ferromagnetic inner film and
gyromagnetic resonance (1.8 GHz) of the ferromagnetic layer in
a conductive hairpin structure. (b) Permeabilities measured and predicted on the the core of the structure. The permeability levels close to the
ferromagnetic film and on the metafilm. resonance were significantly larger for the metafilm as compared
 ARTICLE IN PRESS

3278 O. Acher / Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials 320 (2008) 3276–3281

following question: can metafilms challenge conventional mag-

netic films in terms of broadband high-frequency magnetic
properties?

4.1. Conventional magnetic materials

There exists a very general tradeoff between the permeability

level, high-frequency operation, and bandwidth, which can be
written as
Z 1
p
g 4pMs Þ2
m00 ðf Þf df p tð
 (5)
0 2
where t is the volume fraction of magnetic material in the
composite,  g is the gyromagnetic ratio divided by 2p and 4pMs is
the saturation magnetization of the magnetic material [17,18].
This sum rule can be viewed as a generalization of Snoek’s law
[18,26]. The upper bound is attained in the case of soft films with
uniform magnetization and either no or limited eddy current
effects. In other cases, and for other magnetic materials such as
bulk ferrite, this bound is not attained.

4.2. Metafilms

Let us consider a hairpin metafilm comprising a ferromagnetic

film, as described in Fig. 1a. It is assumed that the permeability of
the magnetic film can be described by the Landau–Gilbert
equation. Several characteristic frequencies shall hereafter be
used, as listed below. The gyromagnetic resonance frequency of
the film Fg is defined as

F 2g ¼ 
g 2 4pMs Hk (6)

The frequency FM associated with the sum rule (5) for the
magnetic core of the metafilm is defined as

F 2M ¼ tð
g 4pMs Þ2
 (7)
The frequency Fm corresponding to the resonance frequency of
the metamaterial in the absence of a magnetic film in the core is
Fig. 2. The complex permeability as a function of frequency obtained by defined as
simulation for: a hairpin metafilm with a magnetic core (thick line); a metafilm
of equivalent structure, but without a magnetic core (thin line); and the magnetic F 2m ¼ 1=ð2pm0 eL CÞ (8)
core (gray/blue patterns). Hairpin capacitance parameter is eC/Z ¼ 40 mm.
It is also useful for further use to introduce:

F 22 ¼ F 2m þ F 2M (9)
to the magnetic core, and this was the case both for positive and
The integral of the imaginary permeability multiplied with the
negative m0 extrema, as well as the maximum of m00 . However, the
frequency can be easily computed from the second order
metafilm displayed a smaller resonance linewidth than the core.
development or the permeability with the frequency f, as
The presence of a second permeability peak at a much higher
established in previous studies. For fcFg, the permeability
frequency (13 GHz) was also predicted. A metafilm with an
becomes
equivalent structure but without a magnetic film in its core
(labeled ‘‘iron-free metafilm’’ in Fig. 2) exhibited a permeability F 2M
peak at 9.2 GHz. mcore  1  2
(10)
f
As can be easily found from Eq. (3), at a sufficiently high
4. Bounds on the magnetic properties frequency

1 F 2m
It was shown above that metafilms could exhibit significantly  (11)
1  LC o2 F 2m þ F 2M  f 2
larger permeabilities than their constitutive magnetic cores. This
provides unique opportunities with regard to tuning of microwave In the case where the upper integration frequency F is large
magnetic properties for various silicon-based applications, such as compared to the gyromagnetic resonance frequency of the core,
inductors [14,15], filters [16,24], couplers, etc. However, a more but significantly smaller than the resonance frequency of the iron-
general question is whether metafilms can outdo conventional free metafilm, so that Fg5F5Fm, then the lowest order develop-
magnetic films. It has already been shown that iron-free ment in 1/f associated with (1) leads to:
metamaterials could challenge conventional magnetic materials Z F
in terms of permeability levels, but this was limited to frequencies p
m00 ðf Þf df  ½F 2 þ F 2
m 
1
(12)
higher than 10 GHz [13,25]. The present section addresses the 0 2 M
 ARTICLE IN PRESS

O. Acher / Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials 320 (2008) 3276–3281 3279

It is quite straightforward to deduce that, in this case

Z F
p
m00 ðf Þf df p F 2M (13)
0 2
The above equation is equivalent to Eq. (5). In the case where
the upper integration frequency exceeds the gyromagnetic
resonance frequency and the
qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
ffi iron-free metafilm resonance
frequency, F g 5F 2 ¼ F 2m þ F 2M 5F;
Z F Z
p
m00 ðf Þf df  F 2m (14)
0 2

4.3. Iron-free metamaterials

The sum rule associated with iron-free metafilms, i.e.,

metastructures without magnetic films in their cores, is repre-
sented by Eq. (14). This equation has also been established
previously by previous theoretical works [13,25]. The results
presented herein establish that Eq. (14) also holds in the case
where the metamaterial comprises a magnetic core, provided that
the upper integration frequency F is large enough.

5. Numerical validation and discussion

5.1. Numerical experiments

RF
The partial integrals 0 m00 ðf Þf df have been computed for the
three samples reported in Fig. 2, and are displayed in Fig. 3. The
limits associated to Eqs. (12)–(14) are also given in this figure. An
excellent agreement can be observed between the numerical
asymptotic values and the theoretical limits established above.
The simulated permeability spectra associated with metafilms
with larger hairpin capacitances (eC/Z ¼ 10 mm) are represented in
Fig. 4a, both with and without a conventional magnetic core
(cf. Fig. 2). It can be seen that the resonance frequencies were
significantly lower than in the previous case. The low-frequency Fig. 4. Simulation results for a hairpin metafilm with a magnetic core (thick line)
peak of the metamaterial with the magnetic core reached a and for a metafilm with an equivalent structure, but without a magnetic core (thin
line). (a) The imaginary part of the permeability (the permeability of the magnetic
maximum value that was three times as large as the maximum
core is also represented in gray/blue) and (b) the integral figure of merit. Hairpin
permeability of the core, below 1 GHz. However, Fig. 4b displays capacitance parameter is eC/Z ¼ 10 mm.
that the integral figure of merit was significantly lower than in
Fig. 3b. An excellent agreement was observed between the
asymptotic values and the theoretical limits. In the case where
the hairpin capacitance was decreased (eC/Z ¼ 120 mm) as in the
case of Fig. 5, the gyromagnetic resonance peak was hardly
affected by the metastructure. Only a slight frequency decrease
and imaginary permeability enhancement could be observed.
However, at high frequency, the metastructure created a new
resonance peak with a significant linewidth and amplitude. The
integral associated with this resonance peak exceeded by far the
integral associated with the gyromagnetic peak.

5.2. Parametric investigation

The behavior of the metafilms and the corresponding iron-free

metastructures was computed for several capacitance parameters,
corresponding to values of eC/Z ranging from 4 to 120 mm. The two
resonance frequencies, F1, F2, observed on the metafilms are
plotted as functions of this parameter in Fig. 6, along with the
resonance frequency Fm associated with the iron-free metastruc-
ture. It can be seen that F1 was consistently lower than the
Fig. 3. The integral of the imaginary part of the permeability multiplied by
gyromagnetic resonance frequency Fg. The second resonance peak
frequency as a function of the upper integration frequency for the three samples
described in Fig. 2; the limits predicted by Eqs. (5), (12), and (14) are represented F2 was well predicted by Eq. (9), and the resonance of the iron-free
as discontinuous horizontal lines. metastructure Fm was well predicted by Eq. (8).
 ARTICLE IN PRESS

3280 O. Acher / Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials 320 (2008) 3276–3281

Fig. 7. The integral figure of merit of hairpin metafilms with varying capacitance
parameter eC/Z: with a magnetic core (thick line); without a magnetic core (thin
line); and for the magnetic core (gray/blue patterns). Theoretical limits are
represented as discontinuous lines.

An intuitive understanding of the two resonances observed on

the magnetic metafilms is the following. The resonance p condition
ffiffiffiffiffiffi
for the permeability according to Eq. (1) is F r ¼ 1=ð2p LC Þ. The
expression of the inductance L in Eq. (3) indicates that
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
F r / 1= mcore ðF r ÞC . This condition is generally met once for a
large m0 core, at a low frequency, and once at a high frequency,
where 0om0 coreo1. So it is understandable that the resonance of
the iron-free metafilm with mcore ¼ 1 occurs between these two
resonances. The magnitude of the imaginary part m00 core influences
the damping associated to each resonance.
The integral figure of merit is presented in Fig. 7 for these films.
As can be observed, the integral did not exceed the limit associated
with conventional magnetic materials, in the case FoFME9 GHz.
The figure of merit of the metafilms was independent of its
permeability in the case where the integration was carried up to
very high frequencies. However, a magnetic thin film in the
Fig. 5. Simulation results for a hairpin metafilm with a magnetic core (thick line)
for a metafilm with an equivalent structure, but without a magnetic core (thin line) metastructure clearly allowed a higher figure of merit as compared
and for the magnetic core (gray/blue patterns). (a) The imaginary part of the to an iron-free structure in the case where the integration was
permeability; (b) the integral figure of merit and the theoretical limits. Hairpin carried up to a frequency significantly lower than FM.
capacitance parameter is eC/Z ¼ 120 mm.

5.3. Connections with design rules and other sum rules

The impedance of a structure that comprises a metafilm can be

written in the form jLmo, where the inductance Lm of the metafilm
is proportional to m. As a consequence, the integral of the real part
of the impedance losses up to a frequency F is proportional to
R F 00
0 m ðf Þf df , and bounded by Eqs. (12)–(14). The integral of the
reflection coefficient associated with a magnetic layer is likewise
connected to this quantity [17]. As a consequence, a significant
number of device-oriented figures of merit can be related to this
integral, and it is therefore expected to be a useful design guideline.
While the relation established here provides a useful figure of
merit for the ultimate broadband performance of devices
weighted over the frequency, other relations are equally impor-
tant to consider. Rozanov’s law [27,28], along with further
refinements [29], provides a useful figure of merit for the
electromagnetic properties integrated over the wavelength. In
the case of metafilms, as for any other metamaterials, it indicates
that the ultimate efficiency-bandwidth properties associated with
metafilms are similar to those of the constitutive film. From this
Fig. 6. Resonance frequencies associated with hairpin metafilms with varying
capacitance parameter eC/Z: with a magnetic core (F1, F2); and without a magnetic point of view, metafilms have much higher figures of merit than
core (Fm). iron-free metastructures.
 ARTICLE IN PRESS

O. Acher / Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials 320 (2008) 3276–3281 3281

5.4. Design of negative permeability metafilms materials. However, the magnetic core is, in this case, not essential
for obtaining a good high-frequency performance.
Negative permeability is often a much-wanted property in
metamaterials [1], and this feature can be obtained at low References
frequencies. Since the integral figure of merit is connected with
the strength of the resonance, the present results have established [1] G. Veselago, E.E. Narimanov, Nat. Mater. 5 (2006) 759.
that much larger negative values of the real permeability m0 on [2] S. Anantha Ramakrishna, Rep. Prog. Phys. 68 (2005) 449.
[3] S. Tretyakov, Metamaterials 1 (2007) 40.
a significant bandwidth can be obtained on metafilms as opposed [4] J.B. Pendry, A.J. Holden, D.J. Robbins, W.J. Stewart, IEEE Trans. MTT 47 (1999)
to on iron-free metastructures. This holds provided that FoFM, as 2075.
clearly illustrated in Fig. 2b. [5] A.N. Lagarkov, V.N. Semenenko, V.N. Kisel, V.A. Chistyaev, J. Magn. Magn.
Mater. 258 (2003) 161.
[6] C.L. Holloway, E.F. Kuester, J. Baker-Jarvis, P. Kabos, IEEE Trans. Antennas
Propag. 51 (2003) 2596.
6. Conclusions [7] O. Acher, J.-H. Le Gallou, M. Ledieu, Metamaterials 2 (2008) 18.
[8] O. Acher, A.L. Adenot, F. Lubrano, F. Duverger, J. Appl. Phys. 85 (1999) 4639.
[9] O. Reynet, A.L. Adenot, S. Deprot, O. Acher, M. Latrach, Phys. Rev. B 66 (2002)
Metafilms are attractive combinations of conventional mag-
094412.
netic single films and metamaterials. They can be manufactured [10] F.J. Rachford, D.N. Armstead, V.G. Harris, C. Vittoria, Phys. Rev. Lett. 99 (2007)
using conventional deposition and patterning technologies, and 057202.
are capable of handling in-plane magnetic fields. Their high- [11] A.L. Adenot-Engelvin, C. Dudek, P. Toneguzzo, O. Acher, J. Eur. Ceram. Soc. 27
(2007) 1029.
frequency permeabilities could be well described by the conven- [12] A.-L. Adenot-Engelvin, C. Dudek, O. Acher, J. Magn. Magn. Mater. 300 (2006)
tional description used for metamaterials, as verified by compar- 33.
ing experimental and theoretical results. [13] O. Acher, J. Magn. Magn. Mater., in press.
[14] M. Yamaguchi, K.H. Kim, S. Ikedaa, J. Magn. Magn. Mater. 104 (2006) 208.
Parametrical studies revealed that the metafilms exhibited [15] B. Viala, A.S. Royet, R. Cuchet, M. Aid, P. Gaud, O. Valls, M. Ledieu, O. Acher,
two resonances; one below the gyromagnetic resonance fre- IEEE Trans. Magn. 40 (2004) 1999.
quency of the magnetic core, and one at a much higher frequency. [16] Y.V. Khivintsev, B.K. Kuanr, I. Harward, R.E. Camley, Z. Celinski, J. Appl. Phys.
99 (2006) 08P512.
Metafilms are attractive negative permeability materials since [17] O. Acher, A.L. Adenot, Phys. Rev. B 62 (2000) 11324.
they exhibit large negative permeability levels within a significant [18] O. Acher, S. Dubourg, Phys. Rev. B 77 (2008) 104440.
frequency range. Characteristic frequencies can be readily ad- [19] D. Pain, M. Ledieu, O. Acher, A.-L. Adenot, F. Duverger, J. Appl. Phys. 85 (1999)
5151.
justed through the geometrical parameters of the metastructure. [20] D. Sievenpiper, Lijun Zhang, R.F. Jimenez Broas, N.G. Alexopolous,
In this respect, metafilms combine the advantages of metamater- E. Yablonovitch, IEEE Trans. MTT 47 (1999) 2059.
ials with those of their magnetic cores. They can be used in [21] O. Reynet, O. Acher, Appl. Phys. Lett. 84 (2004) 1198.
[22] A.G. Gurevich, G.A. Melkov, Magnetization Oscillations and Waves, CRC Press,
replacement of conventional magnetic films or as unit cell of a
New York, 2000.
periodic metamaterial. [23] O. Acher, S. Dubourg, F. Duverger, N. Malléjac, J. Magn. Magn. Mater. 310
RF
The quantity 0 m00 ðf Þf df is a good figure of merit for (2007) 2319.
microwave magnetic materials. The low-frequency resonance [24] E. Salahun, P. Queffelec, G. Tanne, A.L. Adenot, O. Acher, J. Appl. Phys. 91
(2002) 5449.
associated with a metafilm cannot exceed the corresponding [25] O. Acher, O. Reynet, N. Mallejac, J.-M. Lerat, Proc. SPIE 5359 (2004) 76.
figure of merit associated with the magnetic constituent. How- [26] I.T. Iakubov, A.N. Lagarkov, S.A. Maklakov, A.V. Osipov, K.N. Rozanov, I.A.
ever, the magnetic film in the metafilm is essential in providing a Ryzhikov, N.A. Simonov, S.N. Starostenko, J. Magn. Magn. Mater. 258–259
(2003) 195.
low-frequency operation with large permeability levels in a [27] K.N. Rozanov, IEEE Trans. Antennas Propag. 48 (2000) 1230.
compact structure. As mentioned in previous studies, metamater- [28] K.N. Rozanov, S.N. Starostenko, Eur. Phys. J. Appl. Phys 8 (1999) 147.
ials with high-frequency resonances (typically 10 GHz or higher) [29] C.R. Brewitt-Taylor, IET Microwaves Antennas Propag. 1 (2007) 255.
can have larger figures of merit than conventional magnetic