Tailoring perpendicular exchange bias in [Pt/Co]-IrMn multilayers

Journal Article · Tue Feb 01 04:00:00 EST 2005 · Physical Review. B, Condensed Matter and Materials Physics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.71.054411· OSTI ID:20665113

Sort, J; Baltz, V; Rodmacq, B; Dieny, B ^[1]; Garcia, F ^[2]

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1. SPINTEC (URA 2512 CNRS/CEA), CEA/Grenoble, 38054 Grenoble Cedex 9 (France)
2. Laboratorio Nacional de Luz Sincrotron, 6192-CEP 13084-971, 1000 Rua Giuseppe Maximo Scolfaro, Campinas (Brazil)

In [Pt/Co] multilayers (ML) exchange coupled to IrMn, the magnitudes of the exchange bias field H{sub E} and coercivity H{sub C} measured along the perpendicular to film direction, can be tailored by (i) varying the thickness of the Co layers (t{sub Co}) inside the ML and/or (ii) inserting a Pt spacer between the ML and the antiferromagnetic (AFM) layer. An unusual peak in the ferromagnetic (FM) thickness dependence of exchange bias properties is observed. This is ascribed to a reduction of the perpendicular effective magnetic anisotropy for either very small or too large values of t{sub Co}. Moreover, for low values of t{sub Co}, the insertion of an ultrathin Pt spacer between the [Pt/Co] ML and the IrMn brings about a significant increase of H{sub E} and H{sub C}. However, such an effect is not observed for thicker Co layers. This behavior is explained by the two-fold role of the Pt spacer, i.e., it strengthens the perpendicular orientation of the Co magnetization in the ML but it also tends to reduce exchange bias due to the short-range character of the FM-AFM interactions.

• OSTI ID: 20665113
• Journal Information: Physical Review. B, Condensed Matter and Materials Physics, Journal Name: Physical Review. B, Condensed Matter and Materials Physics Journal Issue: 5 Vol. 71; ISSN 1098-0121
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
ANISOTROPY
ANTIFERROMAGNETIC MATERIALS
ANTIFERROMAGNETISM
COBALT
COERCIVE FORCE
ELECTRONS
EXCHANGE INTERACTIONS
FERROMAGNETIC MATERIALS
FILMS
IRIDIUM COMPOUNDS
MAGNETIZATION
PLATINUM
THICKNESS