Exchange bias and bistable magneto-resistance states in amorphous TbFeCo thin films

Journal Article · Mon Jan 04 00:00:00 EST 2016 · Applied Physics Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4939240· OSTI ID:22489243

Li, Xiaopu; Ma, Chung T.; Lu, Jiwei ^[1]; Devaraj, Arun ^[2]; Spurgeon, Steven R.; Comes, Ryan B. ^[3]

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1. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia 22904 (United States)
2. Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, Washington 99352 (United States)
3. Physical and Computational Sciences Directorate, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, Washington 99352 (United States)

Amorphous TbFeCo thin films sputter deposited at room temperature on thermally oxidized Si substrate are found to exhibit strong perpendicular magnetic anisotropy. Atom probe tomography, scanning transmission electron microscopy, and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy mapping have revealed two nanoscale amorphous phases with different Tb atomic percentages distributed within the amorphous film. Exchange bias accompanied by bistable magneto-resistance states has been uncovered near room temperature by magnetization and magneto-transport measurements. The exchange anisotropy originates from the exchange interaction between the ferrimagnetic and ferromagnetic components corresponding to the two amorphous phases. This study provides a platform for exchange bias and magneto-resistance switching using single-layer amorphous ferrimagnetic thin films that require no epitaxial growth.

• OSTI ID: 22489243
• Journal Information: Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 108, Issue 1; Other Information: (c) 2016 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0003-6951
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
AMORPHOUS STATE
ANISOTROPY
ATOMS
DEPOSITS
EPITAXY
EXCHANGE INTERACTIONS
MAGNETIZATION
MAGNETORESISTANCE
MAPPING
NANOSTRUCTURES
SPUTTERING
SUBSTRATES
TEMPERATURE RANGE 0273-0400 K
THIN FILMS
TOMOGRAPHY
TRANSMISSION ELECTRON MICROSCOPY
X-RAY SPECTROSCOPY