skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Hard/Soft magnetic heterostructures : model exchange-spring.

Journal Article · · J. Magn. Magn. Mater.

An overview is provided of research on exchange-spring coupled magnetic films and multilayers, including fabrication methods, and the characterization and modeling of the magnetization reversal processes. For coupled hard/soft bilayers and multilayers the deposition process provides nanometer-scale control of thicknesses and magnetic anisotropy. Such magnetic heterostructures provide model systems for studying the exchange hardening mechanism. Recent work on epitaxial SmCo/Fe and SmCo/Co bilayers and superlattices that display many of the characteristic features of exchange-spring magnets is highlighted. Comparison of the experimental results with numerical simulations indicates that the exchange-spring behavior can be understood from the intrinsic parameters of the hard and soft layers. The simulations are extended to realistically estimate the ultimate gain in performance that can potentially be realized in permanent magnets based on the exchange-spring principle.

Research Organization:
Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC)
DOE Contract Number:
DE-AC02-06CH11357
OSTI ID:
942600
Report Number(s):
ANL/MSD/JA-32851; JMMMDC; TRN: US200920%%64
Journal Information:
J. Magn. Magn. Mater., Vol. 200, Issue 1999; ISSN 0304-8853
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
ENGLISH