Asymmetric magnetization reversal on exchange biased CoO/Co bilayers

We study magnetic hysteresis loops after field cooling of a CoO/Co bilayer by MOKE and polarized neutron reflectivity. The neutron scattering reveals that the first magnetization reversal after field cooling is dominated by domain wall movement, whereas all subsequent reversals proceed essentially by rotation of the magnetization. In addition, off-specular diffuse scattering indicates that the first magnetization reversal induces an irreversible change of the domain state in the antiferromagnet.     

Magnetization distribution in magnetic films studied with Larmor-encoding

Additional information about the magnetization distribution in magnetic films is obtained with a 3D-polarimetry set-up. A pilot experiment was performed with the neutron polarization aligned perpendicular to the surface of a Fe-film in a magnetic field parallel to its surface. The Larmor-precession in the magnetic field between two current sheets was used to adjust the neutron polarization perpendicular to the sample surface. This new polarization-magnetization configuration was probed with a Fe-film in specular and off-specular scattering. The off-specular scattering is created by the magnetic domain structure of the Fe-film in remanence. The results of specular and off-specular scattering are reproduced by calculations for the configuration of the incoming neutron polarization parallel to the sample surface and the magnetic field and for the configuration of the incoming neutron polarization perpendicular to the sample surface and the magnetic field.     

Magnetization Reversal Studies of Magnetic Wire Arrays by Polarized Neutron Scattering

Polarized neutron reflectivity has been used to investigate the peak pattern and the magnetization reversal process of laterally structured Fe- and CoFe-films. The peak pattern of the wire arrays was analyzed in the specular as well as in the off-specular regime. The intensities of the different cross-sections at the off-specular first-order peak were investigated as a function of external magnetic field. Magnetization reversals are discussed and compared to MOKE studies of the same system.     

Annealing effect of NiO/Co90Fe10 thin films: From bilayer to nanocomposite

Exchange-biased bilayers are widely used in the pinned layers of spintronic devices. While magnetic field annealing (MFA) was routinely engaged during the fabrication of these devices, the annealing effect of NiO/CoFe bilayers is not yet reported. In this paper, the transition from NiO/Co₉₀Fe₁₀ bilayer to nanocomposite single layer was observed through rapid thermal annealing at different temperatures under magnetic field. The as-deposited and low-temperature (<623 K) annealed samples had rock salt (NiO) and face center cubic (Co₉₀Fe₁₀) structures. On the other hand, annealing at 623 K and 673 K resulted in nanocomposite single layers composed of oxides (matrix) and alloys (precipitate), due to grain boundary oxidization and strong interdiffusion in the NiO/CoFe and CoFe/SiO₂ interfaces. The structural transition was accompanied by the reduction of grain sizes, re-ordering of crystallites, incensement of roughness, and reduction of Ni²⁺. When measured at room temperature, the bilayers exhibited soft magnetism with small room-temperature coercivity. The nanocomposite layers exhibited an enhanced coercivity due to the changes in the magnetization reversal mechanism by pinning from the oxides. At 10 K, the increased antiferromagnetic anisotropy in the NiO resulted in enhanced coercivity and exchange bias in the bilayers. The nanocomposites exhibited weaker exchange bias compared with the bilayers due to frustrated interfacial spins. This investigation on how the magnetic properties of exchange-biased bilayers are influenced by magnetic RTA provides insights into controlling the magnetization reversal properties of thin films.     

Thermal activation of magnetization in Pr_2Fe_(14)B ribbons

The aftereffect field of thermal activation,which corresponds to the fluctuation field of a domain wall,is investigated via specific measurements of the magnetization behavior in Pr2Fe14B nanocrystalline magnets.The thermal activation is a magnetization reversal arising from thermal fluctuation over an energy barrier to an equilibrate state.According to the magnetic viscosity and the field sweep rate dependence of the coercivity,the calculated values of the fluctuation field are lower than the aftereffect field and in a range between those of domain walls and individual grains.Based on these results,we propose that the magnetization reversal occurs in multiple ways involving grain activation and domain wall activation in thermal activation,and the thermal activation decreases the coercivity by~0.2 kOe in the Pr2Fe14B ribbons.     

Specular and off-specular scattering with polarization and polarization analysis on reflectometer V6 at BER II, HZB

We report on the enhanced capabilities of neutron reflectometer V6 at the research reactor BER II at Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie (HZB) in investigating magnetic thin films and multilayers. It is now fully equipped for simultaneous measurements of specular and off-specular scattering with polarization and polarization analysis. The magnetization configuration of a [CoO/Co/Au]_×16 polycrystalline multilayer at room temperature is reported in demonstrating the efficiency of the instrument. The data is simulated within the supermatrix formalism under the distorted wave Born approximation for a quantitative analysis.     

Direct observation of dendritic domain growth in perpendicular magnetic anisotropy CoFe/Pt multilayers

We present the experimental results on thermally activated magnetization reversal for [Co_0.9Fe_0.1(5.0 Å)/Pt(20 Å)]₄ multilayer. Direct domain observations show that magnetization reversal is initiated with rare nucleation and followed by dendritic growth of domain walls. Based on macroscopic magnetic parameters from experimental data, the dendritic domain growth mode is qualitatively interpreted by Monte Carlo simulations in terms of a simple uniaxial magnetic anisotropy model. Moreover, both time evolution of domain growth observation and magnetic relaxation measurements reveal that CoFe/Pt multilayer has a relatively large activation volume compared with Co/Pt multilayers.     

Influence of domain wall density on interlayer coupling in CoFe/Au/Co/Au multilayers

We measure magnetization reversal and giant magnetoresistance of CoFe/Au/Co/Au multilayers and use micromagnetic simulations to model them. We characterize the system by perpendicular and easy-plane effective anisotropy of Co and CoFe layers, respectively. We show that minor hystereses of magnetoresistance can be reasonably well described by the model. The simulations show that the variation of resistance with the field depends on the field strength at which the sweep reverses, and is correlated with the number of stripe domains present in the Co layers.     

Induced moment due to perpendicular field cycling in trained exchange bias system

Depth-sensitive polarized neutron scattering in specular and off-specular mode has recently revealed that perpendicular field cycling brings about a modification in the interfacial magnetization of a trained exchange coupled interface. We show here by various model fits to our neutron reflectivity data that a restoration of the untrained state is not possible in the case of our polycrystalline multilayer specimen. This is due a magnetic moment at the interface induced only after perpendicular field cycling, changing the initial field-cooled state.     

Grazing incidence polarized neutron scattering in reflection geometry from nanolayered spintronic systems

This review summarizes recent experimental investigations using neutron scattering on layered nanomagnetic systems (accentuating my contribution), which have applications in spintronics also. Polarized neutron investigations of such artificially structured materials are basically done to understand the interplay between structure and magnetism confined within the nanometer scale that can be additionally depth-resolved. Details of the identification of buried domains and their nature of lateral and vertical correlations within the systems are important. A particularly interesting aspect that has emerged over the years is the capability to measure polarized neutron scattering in directions parallel and perpendicular to the applied field direction (which is also the quantization axis for neutron polarizations). This was added with the capability of measuring in specular as well as in off-specular geometry. Distorted wave Born approximation (DWBA) theory for neutrons has proved to be a remarkable development in the quantitative analysis of the scattering data measured simultaneously for specular and off-specular modes within the same framework. In particular, the depth and lateral distribution of the ferromagnetic spins relative to the interface within interlayer-coupled or exchange-coupled system has been extensive. For example, twisted magnetization state at interlayer coupled interfaces or intricacies of symmetric and asymmetric magnetization reversals along with suppression of training effect in exchange coupled system was microscopically identified using neutron scattering only. The investigation on the distribution of magnetic species within dilute ferromagnetic semiconductor superlattices, with low angle neutron scattering, has played a crucial role both from practical and fundamental research points of view.     

Current-driven switching in a single exchange-biased ferromagnetic layer

We demonstrate spin-transfer torque effects in a single exchange-biased ferromagnetic layer. A current through a point contact to the exchange-biased Co layer reverses the magnetization of a nanodomain in the layer hysteretically for low applied magnetic fields and reversibly for high fields (up to 9 T). These effects are the inverse of the domain wall magnetoresistance, in the same way that similar effects in multilayers are the inverse of giant magnetoresistance.     

Magnetization reversal of individual Co nanoislands

We investigate the magnetization reversal of individual Co islands on Cu(111) in the size range of N=700 to 18,000 atoms by spin-polarized scanning tunneling microscopy at 8 K. The switching field H(sw) changes with island size in a nonmonotonic manner: it increases with island size and reaches a maximum value of 2.4 T at N=5500 atoms, and it decreases for larger islands. We extract the energy barrier for magnetization reversal as a function of island size. The maximum H(sw) corresponds to an energy barrier of 1 eV. Our results elucidate a crossover of the magnetization reversal from an exchange-spring behavior to domain wall formation with increasing size at around 7500 atoms.     

Investigation of the magnetization reversal of a magnetic dot array of Co/Pt multilayers

The magnetization reversal behavior of a dot array consisting of Co/Pt multilayers with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy was investigated. The size of the dots was varied from 200 nm down to 40 nm, while keeping the filling factor constant at about 0.16. The structural properties were determined by scanning electron microscopy, whereas the magnetic investigation was performed using SQUID and MFM techniques. It was observed that the dot size has a severe impact on the magnetization reversal mechanism where only the smallest dots with a size of 40 nm are found to be in a magnetic single-domain state. Moreover, the patterning process leads to a degradation of the multilayer, leading to a reduction of the switching field and an increase of the switching field distribution with decreasing dot size. In addition, micromagnetic simulations were performed to understand the magnetization reversal mechanism in more detail.     

Effects of Cu dilution in IrMn on the exchange bias of CoFe/IrMn bilayers

The effect of nonmagnetic dilution in metallic antiferromagnets (AFMs) on the exchange bias (EB) has been investigated from a structural, magnetic, and Monte Carlo simulation point of view in bilayers of CoFe/(IrMn)1-xCux. Dilution by Cu atoms throughout the volume of the AFM IrMn gives rise to an enhanced EB field (HEB) for 5 K相似文献   

Specular neutron reflectivity and beyond

A polarized neutron reflectometer for vertical samples is available at Dhruva reactor guide hall, Trombay. The reflectometer has been designed for horizontal scattering vector. It uses a position-sensitive detector for obtaining the reflectivity pattern. This arrangement allows one to obtain diffuse or off-specular intensity around any specular peak at one go. We have used this instrument for studying the structure of various metal-metal and metal-semiconductor multilayers by specular reflectometry. We have also been successful in understanding interface morphology of several films through diffuse neutron reflectometry (DNR) on this reflectometer. Some of the recent results are presented in this paper to demonstrate the strength of these two techniques.      

Domain Structure and Magnetization Reversal Micromechanisms in Quasi-Two-Dimensional Exchange-Biased Nanomagnetics

Physics of the Solid State - Abstract—The domain structure and magnetization reversal mechanisms are studied in quasi-two-dimensional exchange-biased NiFe/FeMn and NiFe/NiO nanomagnetics,...     

Combined neutron and synchrotron studies of magnetic films

We discuss specular reflectivity and off-specular scattering of neutrons and X-rays from magnetic films. Both these techniques are capable of providing information about the morphology of the chemical and magnetic roughness and the magnetic domain structure. The use of neutrons with polarization analysis enables the spatial distribution of different vector components of the magnetization to be determined, and the use of resonant magnetic X-ray scattering enables magnetization in a compound system to be determined element-selectively. Thus both these methods provide powerful and complementary new probes for studying magnetism at the nanoscopic level in a variety of systems such as those exhibiting exchange bias, giant magnetoresistance, spin injection, etc. We shall illustrate with an example of both techniques applied to an exchange bias system consisting of a single crystal of antiferromagnetic FeF₂ capped with a ferromagnetic Co film, and discuss what has been learned about how exchange bias works in such a system.     

矩形磁性纳米点动力学反磁化过程的微磁学研究

采用微磁学模拟方法研究了初始态为C形磁结构的矩形CoFe纳米点在方波脉冲场作用下的动力学反磁化过程.研究发现,随着脉冲场强的增强,磁体的反磁化模式发生了改变.当场强较弱时反磁化过程通过畴壁移动-单涡旋的形成和移动来完成;当场强较大时反磁化过程模式转变为畴壁移动-双涡旋的形成与移动;在更强的场强下反磁化过程通过畴壁的移动-多涡旋的形成与湮没来实现.由于反磁化模式随场强的变化而改变,反磁化时间随场强的增大出现振荡变化现象. 关键词： 动力学反磁化过程 反磁化时间 微磁学模拟     

Origin of the asymmetric magnetization reversal behavior in exchange-biased systems: competing anisotropies

The magnetization reversal in exchange-biased ferromagnetic-antiferromagnetic (FM-AFM) bilayers is investigated. Different reversal pathways on each branch of the hysteresis loop, i.e., asymmetry, are obtained both experimentally and theoretically when the magnetic field is applied at certain angles from the anisotropy direction. The range of angles and the magnitude of this asymmetry are determined by the ratio between the FM anisotropy and the interfacial FM-AFM exchange anisotropy. The occurrence of asymmetry is linked with the appearance of irreversibility, i.e., finite coercivity, as well as with the maximum of exchange bias, increasing for larger anisotropy ratios. Our results indicate that asymmetric hysteresis loops are intrinsic to exchange-biased systems and the competition between anisotropies determines the asymmetric behavior of the magnetization reversal.     

Direct imaging of asymmetric magnetization reversal in exchange-biased Fe/MnPd bilayers by x-ray photoemission electron microscopy

X-ray photoemission electron microscopy is used to probe the remnant magnetic domain structure in high quality, single-crystalline, exchange-biased Fe/MnPd bilayers. It is found that the induced unidirectional anisotropy strongly affects the overall magnetic domain structure. Real space images of the ferromagnetic domains provide direct evidence for an asymmetric magnetization reversal process after saturation along the ferromagnetic hard direction. The magnetization reversal occurs by moment rotation for decreasing fields while it proceeds by domain nucleation and growth for increasing fields. The observed domains are consistent with the crystallography of the bilayers and favor a configuration that minimizes the overall magnetostatic energy of the ferromagnetic layer.