Influence of Ga+ ion irradiation on thermal relaxation of exchange bias field in exchange-coupled CoFe/IrMn bilayers

This paper reports that the CoFe/IrMn bilayers are deposited by magnetron sputtering on the surfaces of thermallyoxidized Si substrates.It investigates the thermal relaxations of both non-irradiated and Ga + ion irradiated CoFe/IrMn bilayers by means of holding the bilayers in a negative saturation field.The results show that exchange bias field decreases with the increase of holding time period for both non-irradiated and Ga + ion irradiated CoFe/IrMn bilayers.Exchange bias field is also found to be smaller upon irradiation at higher ion dose.This reduction of exchange bias field is attributed to the change of energy barrier induced by ion-radiation.     

退火对IrMn基磁隧道结多层膜热稳定性的影响

采用磁控溅射方法制备了结构为IrMn/CoFe/AlO_x/CoFe的磁性隧道结多层膜,样品置于真空磁场中进行退火处理. 将在不同温度退火的磁隧道结结构多层膜置于负饱和场中等待,研究退火温度对样品热稳定性的影响. 结果表明:退火提高了多层膜反铁磁层的单轴各向异性能,增加了样品的交换偏置;随着负饱和场等待时间的延长,被钉扎层的磁滞回线向正场偏移,交换偏置单调减小,但退火减弱了这种趋势. 关键词： 磁隧道结 交换偏置 磁化反转     

Thermally activated magnetization reversal in magnetic tunnel junctions

In this paper, the magnetization reversal of the ferromagnetic layers in the IrMn/CoFe/AlO_x/CoFe magnetic tunnel junction has been investigated using bulk magnetometry. The films exhibit very complex magnetization processes and reversal mechanism. Thermal activation phenomena such as the training effect, the asymmetry of reversal, the loop broadening and the decrease of exchange field while holding the film at negative saturation have been observed on the hysteresis loops of the pinned ferromagnetic layer while not on those of the free ferromagnetic layer. The thermal activation phenomena observed can be explained by the model of two energy barrier distributions with different time constants.     

Influence of temperature on thermal relaxation of exchange bias field in CoFe/Cu/CoFe/IrMn spin valve

A multilayered spin valve film with a structure of Ta(5 nm)/Co_(75)Fe_(25)(5 nm)/Cu(2.5 nm)/Co_(75)Fe_(25)(5 nm)/Ir_(20)Mn_(80)(12 nm)/Ta(8 nm) is prepared by the high-vacuum direct current(DC) magnetron sputtering. The effect of temperature on the spin valve structure and the magnetic properties are studied by x-ray diffraction(XRD), atomic force microscopy(AFM), and vibrating sample magnetometry. The effect of temperature on the exchange bias field thermomagnetic properties of multilayered spin valve is studied by the residence time of samples in a reverse saturation field. The results show that as the temperature increases, the Ir Mn(111) texture weakens, surface/interface roughness increases, and the exchange bias field decreases. Below 200℃, the exchange bias field decreases with the residence time increasing, and at the beginning of the negative saturation field, the exchange bias field Hex decreases first quickly and then slowly gradually. When the temperature is greater than 200℃, the exchange bias field is unchanged with the residence time increasing.     

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   

Magnetization reversal in the pinned layer of CoFe/PtMn bilayers

The magnetization reversal of the ferromagnetic (FM) layer in CoFe/PtMn exchange-coupled bilayer films has been investigated using bulk magnetometry. These films exhibit very complex angular dependence and the easy axis is perpendicular to the field applied during deposition and post-annealing. Holding the film at negative saturation of the FM layer for up to 17 h results in no change in the exchange field. We believe that this is a thermally stable exchange-coupled system. Only limited thermal activation with a small time constant appears and no thermally activated reversal of the antiferromagnetic layer with a large time constant exits.     

Effect of Ta buffer and NiFe seed layers on pulsed-DC magnetron sputtered Ir20Mn80/Co90Fe10 exchange bias

A systematic investigation has been done on the correlation between texture, grain size evolution and magnetic properties in Ta/Ni₈₁Fe₁₉/Ir₂₀Mn₈₀/Co₉₀Fe₁₀/Ta exchange bias in dependence of Ta buffer and NiFe seed layer thickness in the range of 2-10 nm, deposited by pulsed DC magnetron sputtering technique. A strong dependence of 〈1 1 1〉 texture on the Ta/NiFe thicknesses was found, where the reducing and increasing texture was correlated with exchange bias field and unidirectional anisotropy energy constant at both NiFe/IrMn and IrMn/CoFe interfaces. However, a direct correlation between average grain size in IrMn and H_ex and H_c was not observed. L1₂ phase IrMn₃ could be formed by thickness optimization of Ta/NiFe layers by deposition at room temperature, for which the maximum exchange coupling parameters were achieved. We conclude finally that the coercivity is mainly influenced by texture induced interfacial effects at NiFe/IrMn/CoFe interfaces developing with Ta/NiFe thicknesses.     

Magnetization reversal in perpendicular exchange-biased multilayers

Co/Pt multilayers with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy exhibit an exchange bias when covered with an IrMn layer. The exchange bias field, which is about 7 mT for 3 Co/Pt bilayer repetitions and a Co layer thickness of 5 Å, can be increased up to 16.5 mT by the insertion of a thin Pt layer at the Co/IrMn interface. The interfacial magnetic anisotropy of the Co/IrMn interface (KSCo/IrMn =-0.09 mJ/m2) favours in-plane magnetization and tends to tilt the Co spins away from the film normal. Dynamical measurements of the magnetization reversal process reveal that both thermally activated spin reversal in the IrMn layer and domain wall nucleation in the Co/Pt multilayer influence the interfacial spin structure and therefore the strength of the perpendicular exchange bias field.     

BiFeO3/Ni81Fe19磁性双层膜中的交换偏置及其热稳定性研究

研究了磁场诱导生长的BiFeO₃/Ni₁₈Fe₁₉磁性双层膜中 的交换偏置及其热稳定性. 结果表明: BiFeO₃/Ni₁₈Fe₁₉双层膜中的交换偏置场H_ex未表现出明显的磁练习效应. 在负饱和磁场等待过程中, BiFeO₃/Ni₁₈Fe₁₉双层膜磁滞回线的前支和后支曲 线都随着在负饱和磁场中等待时间t_sat的增加向正场方向偏移. 交换偏置场H_ex的大小随着等待时间t_sat的增加而减小, 矫顽力H_c基本不变. 交换偏置场H_ex的大小随测量温度T_m的升高变化不明显, 表现出良好的热稳定性; 但矫顽力H_c随T_m的升高而显著减小. 良好的热稳定性应该来源于铁电性和反铁磁性间的共同耦合作用. 关键词： 多铁性 磁性薄膜 交换偏置 热稳定性     

Antiferromagnet IrMn thickness dependence in exchange-biased perpendicular magnetic anisotropy based on CoFe/Pt/CoFe/[IrMn(tIrMn)] multilayers

The effect of the antiferromagnetic IrMn thickness upon the magnetic properties of CoFe/Pt/CoFe/[IrMn(t_IrMn)] multilayers is studied. An oscillatory interlayer coupling (IEC) has been shown in pinned CoFe/Pt(t_Pt)/CoFe/IrMn multilayers with perpendicular anisotropy. The period of oscillation corresponds to about 2 monolayers of Pt. The oscillatory behavior of IEC depends on the nonmagnetic metallic Pt thickness and is thought to be related to the antiferromagnetic ordering induced by the IrMn layer. From the extraordinary Hall voltage amplitude (EHA) curves as function of IrMn thickness, we report that the oscillation dependence of IEC for the [CoFe/Pt/CoFe] multilayer system induced by IrMn with spacer-layer thickness is a important features of perpendicular exchange biased system.     

Bias voltage and temperature dependence of magneto-electric properties in double-barrier magnetic tunnel junction with amorphous Co-Fe-B electrodes

Bias voltage and temperature dependence of magneto-electric properties in double-barrier magnetic tunnel junctions(DBMTJs) with a structure of [IrMn/CoFe/Ru/CoFeB]/Al-O/CoFeB/Al-O/[CoFeB/Ru/CoFe/IrMn], have been investigated. The DBMTJs show a large tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) ratio of up to 57.6%, a high V_1/2 value of 1.26 V and small switching field H_c of 9.5 Oe at room temperature (RT). The TMR reaches the maximum at 30 K, about 89.0%, and decreases slightly from 30 to 4.2 K. A novel zero-bias anomaly (ZBA) in the P state is found and is temperature dependent, more sharply at low temperature, whereas a normal ZBA exists in the AP state. These effects are ascribed to magnon-, phonon- and impurity-assisted tunneling, and variation of density of states. The DBMTJ with a large TMR ratio, a high V_1/2, and small switching field H_c is promising for developing the future spin electronic devices.     

Microstructural and magnetic characteristics of IrMn exchange-biased tunnel junctions

Tunneling magnetoresistance values above 20% and 40% were obtained for as-deposited and annealed tunnel junctions, Ta/NiFe/Cu/NiFe/IrMn/CoFe/Al-oxide/CoFe/NiFe/Ta, respectively. Exchange biasing field increased from 270 to 550 Oe after annealing resulting from sharpening of the IrMn/CoFe interface. dV/dI vs. V curves showed asymmetric profiles, which were due to asymmetry of the CoFe/Al-oxide interfaces and difference in microstructure of the CoFe layers.     

Nonuniform and sequential magnetization reversal via domain structure formation for multilayered system with grain size induced enhanced exchange bias

We report on the magnetization reversal in series of exchange-biased multilayers NiFe(10.0 nm)/[ Ir20Mn80(6.0 nm)/Co80Fe20(3.0 nm)] N studied by specular reflection and off-specular scattering of polarized neutrons. All specimens are sputtered and post-annealed at 530 K (i.e. above the IrMn Néel temperature of 520 K) in Ar atmosphere before cooling to room temperature in the presence of a field of 130 Oe which induces the unidirectional anisotropy. We find HEB is dependent upon the number of bilayers N as it gradually increases from 0.33 kOe for N=1 to a considerably higher value of upto ≈0.9 kOe for N=10. X-ray specular and diffuse scattering data reveal no significant variation of the lateral correlation length and only a weak dependence of the vertical rms interface roughness on N. Atomic and magnetic force microscopy, however, show a strong reduction of the grain size accompanied by distinct changes of the ferromagnetic domain structure. The enhancement of the exchange bias effect is presumably related to the shrinking of the related domain size in the antiferromagnet due to the structural evolution in the multilayers. Polarized neutron reflectometry (PNR) measurements are done at different applied fields sweeping both branches of the hysteresis loop. The spin-flip (SF) cross section of both the N=10 and 3 samples show diffusely scattered intensity appears gradually as the field approaches HEB and is most intense where the net magnetization vanishes. The disappearance of diffuse scattering in saturation indicates that the off-specular intensity is related to the reversal process. The reversal proceeds sequentially starting with the bottom (top) CoFe layer for decreasing (increasing) field and is related to the evolution of the grain size along the stack. The reversal of each CoFe layer is for both field branches due to domain wall motion. Thus as a main result, we observe a sequential and symmetric magnetization reversal in exchange-biased multilayers. The concomitant in-plane magnetization fluctuations revealed by off-specular spin-flip scattering indicate a more complex reversal mechanism than hitherto considered. Moreover, although the grain size decreases from N=3 to 10 by a factor of about four the reversal mechanism remains similar.     

基于IrMn/Fe/Pt交换偏置结构的无场自旋太赫兹源

与目前商用的太赫兹源相比,自旋太赫兹源具有超宽频谱、固态稳定以及成本低廉等优点,这使其成为下一代太赫兹源的主要研究焦点.但使用自旋太赫兹源时,通常需要外加磁场使铁磁层的磁化强度饱和,才能产生太赫兹波,这制约了其应用前景.基于此,本文制备了一种基于Ir Mn/Fe/Pt交换偏置结构的自旋太赫兹波发生器,通过Ir Mn/Fe中的交换偏置场和Fe/Pt中的超快自旋流注入与逆自旋霍尔效应相结合,在无外加磁场下产生了强度可观的太赫兹波.在Ir Mn和Fe的界面中插入超薄的Cu,可以使Fe在厚度很薄时零场下实现饱和磁化,并且其正向饱和场最高可达–10 m T,从而进一步提升无场下的太赫兹发射效率.零场下出射的太赫兹波的动态范围超过60 d B,达到可实用化的水平.通过旋转样品,发现产生的太赫兹波的偏振方向也会随之旋转,并且始终沿着面内垂直于交换偏置场的方向.此外,在此交换偏置结构的基础上,引入了一层自由的铁磁金属层Fe,设计了一种以Ir Mn/Fe/Pt/Fe为核心结构的自旋阀太赫兹源,发现产生的太赫兹强度在两层铁磁层反平行排列时比平行排列以及不引入自由铁磁金属层时均大约提升了40%.结果表明,基...     

A polycrystalline model for magnetic exchange bias

This work introduces a realistic model for the magnetic behavior of polycrystalline ferromagnet/antiferromagnet (FM/AF) systems with granular interfaces. It considers that, for strong enough interface exchange coupling, the AF layer breaks the adjacent FM into small-sized domains and that at the interface there exist grains with uncompensated spins interacting with the FM magnetizations; the classification of these grains as unstable (rotatable, responsible for a coercivity enhancement) or stable (adding to the bias) depends on both the anisotropy and the magnetic coupling with the adjacent FM. The distinctive characteristic of the model is that the effective rotatable anisotropy changes when the external magnetic field is varied resulting in a non-zero hard-axis coercivity, a feature commonly observed, though little understood and often ignored. The applicability of this model was checked on a typical magnetron-sputtered IrMn/Co bilayer and excellent agreement between experiment and simulation was achieved.     

正交各向异性双层交换弹簧薄膜的磁矩分布

本文以Pt_(84)Co_(16)/TbFeCo双层交换弹簧体系为研究对象,利用微磁学连续模型,研究了软/硬磁层易轴方向相互垂直的新型体系中磁矩的分布特征.研究结果表明,磁矩偏离薄膜法线方向的角度在软磁层中沿膜厚方向的变化速率比硬磁层中的快.通过调节软磁层参数来增加软/硬磁的各向异性常数比、交换能常数比、饱和磁化强度比或外磁场强度,都可有效改变磁矩偏角在软/硬磁层中的变化速率.特别是当软/硬磁各向异性常数比值和交换能常数比值同时增大时,可以使得磁矩在硬磁层中的变化速率快于软磁层中的.而饱和磁化强度比值对磁矩变化速率的影响源于饱和磁化强度的变化会相应地改变各向异性常数,进而改变磁矩在软/硬磁层中磁矩方向变化速率的比值.此体系的磁滞回线显示磁性参数的改变可以显著改变体系的剩磁及饱和磁场.软磁层中的退磁场能及体系的正交各向异性可导致负的成核场.     

引入纳米氧化层的CoFe/Pd双层膜结构中增强的垂直磁各向异性研究

制备了CoFe/Pd双层结构的界面处或CoFe层 内部引入纳米氧化层后的系列薄膜. 研究结果显示, 引入纳米氧化层后, 可以使薄膜的磁各向异性在退火后从面内转到垂直膜面方向. 并且对于在CoFe层内部引入纳米氧化层的这类样品, 其强烈的垂直磁性可以在相当宽的有效磁性层厚度范围内(1.2-2 nm)维持. 在保持垂直磁性的前提下, 这种特殊的双层膜结构中CoFe磁性层厚度比常规CoFe/Pd 多层膜中的CoFe层厚度至少多出1.4 nm. 本文的研究有助于制备出具有较高热稳定性的垂直磁性器件电极.     

The study of exchange coupling in NiFe/Cu/IrMn trilayer structures by MOKE and FMR measurements

The exchange coupling strength of NiFe/Cu/IrMn trilayer films was examined with both a new magneto optical Kerr effect (MOKE) method developed for the exchange coupling field determination and ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) measurements. We found that the value for exchange coupling field obtained by the MOKE technique coincided with FMR result with high accuracy. Other peculiarities of FMR measurements due to interlayer exchange coupling such as angular dependence of resonance field on Cu spacer thickness are also shown in the article.     

On the use of exchange biased top electrodes in magnetic tunnel junctions

We have investigated the magnetic behavior and the structural properties of ferromagnetic–antiferromagnetic systems (NiFe–IrMn and Co–IrMn) deposited directly on a thin tantalum buffer layer (bottom configuration) or above a thin Al₂O₃ tunnel barrier layer (top configuration). In the bottom configuration, the bilayer system exhibits higher magnetic performances than in the top configuration in terms of thermal stability. We have performed a detailed structural study by X-ray diffraction and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy which allow us to establish a clear correlation between the situation of the bilayer with respect to the tunnel barrier, its texture and its magnetic properties.