Effect of heavy element on magneto-transport properties in magnetic FeCoNiCuPd high-entropy alloy thin films

The structural, magnetic, and magneto-transport properties of ferromagnetic FeCoNiCuPd high-entropy alloy (HEA) thin films were investigated to assess the role of the heavy element Pd in magneto-transport. FeCoNiCuPd films with varying composition ratios of Cu and Pd were fabricated by a co-sputtering process at ambient temperature, and the resulting films exhibited a face-centered cubic structure with a homogeneous single phase. All films exhibited ferromagnetic hysteresis curves with soft magnetic behavior at room temperature. The dependence of the anisotropic magnetoresistance effect and anomalous Hall effect on Pd suggests that heavy metals with large spin–orbit interactions play an important role in the magneto-transport of magnetic HEAs. This finding will facilitate the understanding of the magneto-transport phenomenon in magnetic HEAs for future spintronic materials.