Enhancement of the magnetic interfacial exchange energy at a specific interface in NiFe/CoO/Co trilayer thin films via ion-beam modification

Journal Article · Fri Feb 21 00:00:00 EST 2014 · Journal of Applied Physics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4865569· OSTI ID:22278044

Ting, Y. -W.; Chen, P. -S.; Lin, K. -W. ^[1]; Tan, X. ^[2]; Klose, F. ^[3]

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1. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung 402, Taiwan (China)
2. Laboratory for Microstructures, Shanghai University, Shanghai 200444 (China)
3. Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, Lucas Heights, NSW 2234 (Australia)

A series of ferromagnetic Ni{sub 80}Fe{sub 20}(55 nm)/antiferromagnetic CoO (25 to 200 nm)/ferromagnetic Co (55 nm)/SiO{sub 2}(substrate) trilayer thin films were fabricated by ion-beam assisted deposition in order to understand the role of ion beam modification on the interfacial and interlayer coupling. The microstructural study using transmission electron microscopy, X-ray reflectometry, and polarised neutron reflectometry showed that ion-beam modification during the deposition process led to an oxygen-rich Co/CoO nanocomposite interface region at the bottom layer. This interface caused a high exchange bias field for the ferromagnetic cobalt. However, the exchange bias for top permalloy ferromagnet remained low, in line with expectations from the literature for the typical interfacial energy. This suggest that the ion-beam enhancement of the magnetic exchange bias is localized to the Co/CoO interface where local microstructural effects provide the dominant mechanism.

• OSTI ID: 22278044
• Journal Information: Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 115, Issue 7; Other Information: (c) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0021-8979
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
ANTIFERROMAGNETIC MATERIALS
ANTIFERROMAGNETISM
COBALT
COBALT OXIDES
COUPLING
DEPOSITION
INTERFACES
ION BEAMS
ION IMPLANTATION
IRRADIATION
LAYERS
MICROSTRUCTURE
PERMALLOY
PHYSICAL RADIATION EFFECTS
SILICON OXIDES
SUBSTRATES
THIN FILMS
TRANSMISSION ELECTRON MICROSCOPY
X-RAY DIFFRACTION