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

Title: Domain state exchange bias in a single layer FeRh thin film formed via low energy ion implantation

Journal Article · · Journal of Materials Chemistry C
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1039/d2tc04014j· OSTI ID:1985364

Modern spintronics relies heavily on the exchange bias effect to pin the orientation of ferromagnetic layers in magnetic tunnel junctions. The current implementations of exchange bias in magnetic tunnel junctions employ pristine interfaces between antiferromagnetic and ferromagnetic layers. Here we reveal an interfacial exchange bias introduced by a single-step, low-energy ion implantation process in a single layer FeRh thin film. Both 1 keV He+ ions and 5 keV Fe+ were investigated, their energy selected to ensure the ions would stop within the FeRh film. The ions reduce the metamagnetic transition temperature through defect generation to form a surface layer with ferromagnetic ordering. Temperature dependent magnetism measurements reveal a room temperature exchange bias between the ferromagnetic surface and the antiferromagnetic bulk of ~41 Oe in 5 keV Fe+ implanted samples and ~36 Oe for 1 keV He+ implanted samples. We directly scrutinize this exchange bias effect in magnetic depth profiles obtained by polarized neutron reflectometry which clearly show a pinned ferromagnetic layer adjacent to the disordered layer created by low energy Fe+ ion implantation. These results reveal a novel method to implement exchange bias in an antiferromagnetic layer that can have direct application in the field of spintronics.

Research Organization:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Scientific User Facilities (SUF)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC05-00OR22725
OSTI ID:
1985364
Journal Information:
Journal of Materials Chemistry C, Vol. 11, Issue 3; ISSN 2050-7526
Publisher:
Royal Society of ChemistryCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

References (37)

Spin-orientation dependence in neutron reflection from a single magnetic film journal April 1995
N+ Irradiation and Substrate-Induced Variability in the Metamagnetic Phase Transition of FeRh Films journal May 2021
Ferromagnetism at the interfaces of antiferromagnetic FeRh epilayers journal November 2010
Tuning the antiferromagnetic to ferromagnetic phase transition in FeRh thin films by means of low-energy/low fluence ion irradiation journal September 2015
Exchange bias: The antiferromagnetic bulk matters journal August 2014
FeRh/FePt exchange spring films for thermally assisted magnetic recording media journal April 2003
Controllable exchange bias in Fe/metamagnetic FeRh bilayers journal October 2014
Antiferromagnetic spintronics journal February 2018
Temperature-driven nucleation of ferromagnetic domains in FeRh thin films journal June 2012
Exchange-Bias Phenomenon: The Role of the Ferromagnetic Spin Structure journal March 2015
Reversible and magnetically unassisted voltage-driven switching of magnetization in FeRh/PMN-PT journal October 2018
Giant Controllable Magnetization Changes Induced by Structural Phase Transitions in a Metamagnetic Artificial Multiferroic journal March 2016
Highlights from the magnetism reflectometer at the SNS journal September 2009
Magnetic patterning of FeRh thin films by energetic light ion microbeam irradiation journal April 2014
Anomalous Magnetic Moments and Transformations in the Ordered Alloy FeRh journal March 1962
GenX 3: the latest generation of an established tool journal July 2022
Direct-Write of Nanoscale Domains with Tunable Metamagnetic Order in FeRh Thin Films journal November 2020
Imaging uncompensated moments and exchange-biased emergent ferromagnetism in FeRh thin films journal December 2019
Observation of a temperature dependent asymmetry in the domain structure of a Pd-doped FeRh epilayer journal November 2014
Thermal degradation of spin valve multilayers caused by Mn migration journal March 2000
Exchange bias of ferromagnetic/antiferromagnetic in FePt/FeRh bilayers journal April 2009
Magnetic field response of doubly clamped magnetoelectric microelectromechanical AlN-FeCo resonators journal December 2017
Magnetic order multilayering in FeRh thin films by He-Ion irradiation journal November 2017
Anomalously high entropy change in FeRh alloy journal February 1996
SRIM – The stopping and range of ions in matter (2010)
  • Ziegler, James F.; Ziegler, M. D.; Biersack, J. P.
  • Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section B: Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms, Vol. 268, Issue 11-12 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nimb.2010.02.091
journal June 2010
Electrical switching of an antiferromagnet journal January 2016
Predicting magnetostructural trends in FeRh-based ternary systems journal September 2013
Magnetic neutron off-specular scattering for the direct determination of the coupling angle in exchange-coupled multilayers journal May 2001
Role of the antiferromagnetic bulk spins in exchange bias journal October 2016
Antiferromagnetic spintronics journal March 2016
Full Electroresistance Modulation in a Mixed-Phase Metallic Alloy journal March 2016
Magnetic and Electrical Properties of FeRh Thin Films journal March 1966
Exchange bias switching in an antiferromagnet/ferromagnet bilayer driven by spin–orbit torque journal November 2020
Direct Evidence of Anomalous Interfacial Magnetization in Metamagnetic Pd doped FeRh Thin Films journal March 2015
Two interface effects: Exchange bias and magnetic proximity journal February 2014
The exchange bias effect on single layer of Fe-rich FeRh thin film journal November 2019
Towards 3D polarization analysis in neutron reflectometry journal March 2001

Similar Records

Controllable exchange bias in Fe/metamagnetic FeRh bilayers
Journal Article · Mon Oct 27 00:00:00 EDT 2014 · Applied Physics Letters · OSTI ID:1985364

Bulk and near-surface magnetic properties of FeRh thin films
Journal Article · Tue Apr 01 00:00:00 EDT 2008 · Journal of Applied Physics · OSTI ID:1985364

Colossal magnetic phase transition asymmetry in mesoscale FeRh stripes
Journal Article · Tue Oct 11 00:00:00 EDT 2016 · Nature Communications · OSTI ID:1985364