Exchange-bias instability in a bilayer with an ion-beam imprinted stripe pattern of ferromagnetic/antiferromagnetic interfaces

Journal Article · Mon May 01 00:00:00 EDT 2006 · Physical Review. B, Condensed Matter and Materials Physics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PHYSREVB.73.1· OSTI ID:20788163

Theis-Broehl, Katharina; Wolff, Maximilian; Westphalen, Andreas; Zabel, Hartmut; McCord, Jeffrey; Hoeink, Volker; Schmalhorst, Jan; Reiss, Guenther; Weis, Tanja; Engel, Dieter; Ehresmann, Arno; Ruecker, Ulrich; Toperverg, Boris P ^[1]

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1. Department of Physics, Ruhr-University Bochum, D-44780 Bochum (Germany)

We have investigated the magnetization arrangement in an in-plane stripe pattern with alternating exchange-bias domains. The stripe pattern was produced by ion bombardment induced magnetic patterning, which changed locally the exchange-bias direction at the ferromagnet/antiferromagnet interface, but not the magnetic or antiferromagnetic properties of the Co{sub 70}Fe{sub 30} and Mn{sub 83}Ir{sub 17} layers, respectively. For the analysis of the magnetic domain structure evolution along the hysteresis loop we used a combination of experimental techniques: magneto-optical Kerr effect, Kerr microscopy, polarized neutron reflectometry, and off-specular scattering of polarized neutrons with polarization analysis. Instead of a perfect antiparallel alignment we found that the magnetization in neighboring stripes is periodically canted with respect to the stripe axis so that the net magnetization of the ferromagnetic film turns almost perpendicular to the stripes. At the same time the projection of the magnetization vector onto the stripe axis has a periodically alternating sign. The experimental observations are explained and quantitatively described within the frame of a phenomenological model, taking into account interfacial exchange bias, intralayer exchange energy, and uniaxial anisotropy. The model defines conditions which can be used for tailoring nano- and micro-patterned exchange-bias systems with different types of magnetic order.

• OSTI ID: 20788163
• Journal Information: Physical Review. B, Condensed Matter and Materials Physics, Vol. 73, Issue 17; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.73.174408; (c) 2006 The American Physical Society; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1098-0121
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
ANISOTROPY
ANTIFERROMAGNETIC MATERIALS
ANTIFERROMAGNETISM
COBALT ALLOYS
DOMAIN STRUCTURE
ELECTRONS
EXCHANGE INTERACTIONS
FERROMAGNETIC MATERIALS
HYSTERESIS
INTERFACES
ION BEAMS
IRIDIUM ALLOYS
IRON ALLOYS
KERR EFFECT
MAGNETIZATION
MAGNETO-OPTICAL EFFECTS
MANGANESE ALLOYS
NEUTRON DIFFRACTION
NEUTRON SPECTRA
NEUTRONS
PERIODICITY
POLARIZATION
SPIN
THIN FILMS