Title :
Effect of the Ferromagnetic Layer Thickness on the Blocking Temperature in IrMn/CoFe Exchange Couples
Author :
Vallejo-Fernandez, G. ; Kaeswurm, B. ; Fernandez-Outon, L.E. ; O´Grady, K.
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Phys., Univ. of York, York
Abstract :
In this work we present a study of the thermal stability of IrMn/CoFe exchange couples as a function of the thickness of the ferromagnetic (F) layer tF. We find a monotonic decrease in the average blocking temperature (TB) with tF of up to 29% for tF = 12 nm. We have quantified the effect of the exchange field (H*) from the F layer on the antiferromagnetic (AF) layer and its effect on the thermal stability of the AF. H* can increase the degree of thermal activation by up to 44%.
Keywords :
antiferromagnetic materials; antiferromagnetism; cobalt alloys; exchange interactions (electron); ferromagnetic materials; iridium alloys; iron alloys; magnetic transitions; manganese alloys; thermal stability; IrMn-CoFe; antiferromagnetic layer; blocking temperature; ferromagnetic layer thickness; magnetic exchange couples; thermal activation; thermal stability; Blocking temperature; IrMn; exchange bias;
Journal_Title :
Magnetics, IEEE Transactions on
DOI :
10.1109/TMAG.2008.2001812
