• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2013.02a
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• pp.304-305
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• 2013

We report a positive exchange bias (HE) in thinmultilayered filmscontaining nano-oxide layer. The positive HE, obtained for our system results from an antiferromagnetic coupling between the ferromagnetic (FM) CoFe and the antiferromagnetic (AFM) CoO layers, which spontaneously form on top of the nano-oxide layer (NOL). The shift in the hysteresis loop along the direction of thecooling field and the change in the sign of exchange bias are evidence of antiferromagnetic interfacial exchange coupling between the CoO and CoFe layers. Our calculation indicates that uncompensated oxygen moments in the NOL results in antiferromagnetic interfacial exchange coupling between the CoO and CoFe layers. One of the interesting features observed with our system is that it displays the positive HE even above the bulk Neel temperature (TN) of CoO. Although the positive HEsystem has a different AFM/FM interfacial spin structure compare to that of the negative HE one, the results of the angular dependence measurements show that the magnetization reversal mechanism can be considered within the framework of the coherent rotation model.

• Journal of Magnetics
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.77-82
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• 2006

The structure and magnetic properties of Fe-Ni films, deposited by DC magnetron sputtering on Si(111) wafer, have been studied. The spin wave stiffness constant is determined by Brillouin light scattering (BLS) and compared with the value obtained from magnetization measurements. The range of exchange interaction was determined as 0.4 atomic distances in the film deposited in a bias magnetic field, which is 1/2 that in the film grown in no bias magnetic field. The results show that the dimensions of exchange coupling increased by the sputtering in the magnetic field.

• Journal of Magnetics
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.17-20
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• 2010

The relationship between ferromagnet anisotropic magnetization and the antiferromagnet atomic spin configuration was investigated for various angles of the uniaxial deposition magnetic field of the FeMn layer in the Corning glass/Ta(5nm)/NiFe(7nm)/FeMn(25nm)/Ta(5nm) multilayer that was prepared by the ion beam sputter deposition. The exchange bias field ($H_{ex}$) obtained from the measurement of the easy-axis MR loop decreased to 40 Oe at the deposition field angle of $45^{\circ}$, and to 0 Oe at the angle of $90^{\circ}$. When the difference between the uniaxial axis between the ferromagnet NiFe and the antiferromagnet FeMn was $90^{\circ}$, the strong antiferromagnetic dipole moment of FeMn caused the weak ferromagnetic dipole moment of NiFe to rotate in the interface.

• Journal of the Korean Magnetics Society
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.143-148
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• 2002

We report an experimental evidence of coexistence of the strong and weak exchange couplings in unidirectional NiO/NiFe (antiferromagneticlferromagnetic) bilayer thin films. The exchange bias was measured by VSM and AMR techniques and then, analyzed into the strong and weak exchange couplings by means of a regression method. In NiO(60nm)/NiFe(10nm) film, the ratio of the weak exchange coupling field over the average exchange coupling field was found to be almost unchanged within it range from 0.2 to 0.4 irrespective to the strength of an applied field. However, the ratio increased among the samples with decreasing the average exchange coupling field due to the increment of the weak exchange coupling area.

• Journal of the Korean Magnetics Society
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.132-136
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• 2002

Enhancement of crystallinity and exchange bias characteristics for NiFe/FeMn/NiFe trilayer with Si buffer layer fabricated by ion-beam deposition were examined. A Si buffer layer promoted (111) texture of fcc crystallities in the initial growth region of NiFe layer deposited on it. FeMn layers deposited on Si/NiFe bilayer exhibited excellent (111) crystal texture. The antiferromagnetic FeMn layer between top and bottom NiFe films with the buffer Si 50 ${\AA}$-thick induced a large exchange coupling field Hex with a different dependence. It was found that H$\sub$ex/ of the bottom and top NiFe films with Si buffer layer revealed large value of about 110 Oe and 300 Oe, respectively. In the comparison of two Ta and Si buffer layers, the NiFe/FeMn/NiFe trilayer with Si could possess larger exchange coupling field and higher crystallinity.

• Journal of Magnetics
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.83-87
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• 2011

The vortex-driven magnetization process of micron-sized, exchange-coupled square elements with composition of $Ni_{80}Fe_{20}$ (12 nm)/$Ir_{20}Mn_{80}$ (5 nm) is investigated. The exchange-bias is introduced by field-cooling through the blocking temperature (TB) of the system, whereby Landau-shaped vortex states of the $Ni_{80}Fe_{20}$ layer are imprinted into the $Ir_{20}Mn_{80}$. In the case of zero-field cooling, the exchange-coupling at the ferromagnetic/antiferromagnetic interface significantly enhances the vortex stability by increasing the nucleation and annihilation fields, while reducing coercivity and remanence. For the field-cooled elements, the hysteresis loops are shifted along the cooling field axis. The loop shift is attributed to the imprinting of displaced vortex state of $Ni_{80}Fe_{20}$ into $Ir_{20}Mn_{80}$, which leads to asymmetric effective local pinning fields at the interface. The asymmetry of the hysteresis loop and the strength of the exchange-bias field can be tuned by varying the strength of cooling field. Micromagnetic modeling reproduces the experimentally observed vortex-driven magnetization process if the local pinning fields induced by exchange-coupling of the ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic layers are taken into account.

• Journal of Magnetics
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.97-100
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• 2011

Bilayers of soft NiFe (150 nm-420 nm) on hard Ni (150 nm) were prepared by electrodeposition. The process of magnetization reversal in the NiFe/Ni bilayers was then investigated. The hysteresis loop generated by a magnetization reversal of soft NiFe under a positive saturation state of a hard Ni layer shows a shift along the negative field axis, which is clear evidence for the exchange spring effect in the NiFe/Ni bilayers. The dependence of the coercive field $H_c$ and exchange bias field Hex on the thickness of the NiFe layer was also investigated. As the NiFe thickness increases from 150 nm to 420 nm, both $H_c$ and $H_{ex}$ decrease rapidly from $H_c$= 51.7 Oe and $H_{ex}$ = 12.2 Oe, and saturate to $H_c$ = 5.8 Oe and $H_{ex}$ = 3.5 Oe.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.13 no.7
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• pp.447-452
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• 2003

Effects of annealing and thickness of Co layer in Co/IrMn bilayers on the magnetic properties have been investigated. The highest interfacial exchange coupling energy($J_{K}$ = 0.12 erg/$\textrm{cm}^2$) was obtained for 10 nm Co layer thickness. Exchange bias field is inversely proportional to the magnetization, the thickness of the pinned layer, and the grain size of antiferromagnetic layer. Also it is related to the interfacial exchange energy difference, which is expected to depend on the surface roughness. These results almost agree with the random-field model of exchange anisotropy proposed by Malozemoff. Exchange bias field decreased slowly with increasing annealing temperature up to X$300^{\circ}C$. However, exchange bias field increased above $300^{\circ}C$.

• Journal of Magnetics
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.159-163
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• 2016

Antiferromagnet (AFM)/ferromagnet (FM) bilayer structures are widely used in the magnetic devices of sensor and memory applications, as AFM materials can induce unidirectional anisotropy of the FM material via exchange coupling. The strength of the exchange coupling is known to be sensitive to quality of the interface of the AFM/FM bilayers. In this study, we utilize proton irradiation to modify the interface structures and investigate its effect on the magnetic properties of AFM/FM structures, including the exchange bias and magnetic thermoelectric effect. The magnetic properties of IrMn/CoFeB structures with various IrMn thicknesses are characterized after they are exposed to a proton beam of 3 MeV and $1{\sim}5{\times}10^{14}ions/cm^2$. We observe that the magnetic moment is gradually reduced as the amount of the dose is increased. On the other hand, the exchange bias field and thermoelectric voltage are not significantly affected by proton irradiation. This indicates that proton irradiation has more of an influence on the bulk property of the FM CoFeB layer and less of an effect on the IrMn/CoFeB interface.

• Journal of the Korean Magnetics Society
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.204-209
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• 2012

We measure the ferromagnetic resonance signals in order to analyze the exchange coupling energy due to the uncompensated antiferromagnetic spins in exchange coupled CoFe/MnIr bilayers. The exchange bias fields ($H_{ex}$) and rotatable anisotropy fields ($H_{ra}$) are obtained from the ferromagnetic resonance fields measured with in-plane angle in thermal annealed samples with $t_{AF}$= 0, 3, and 10 nm. The sum of the $H_{ex}$ and $H_{ra}$ do not depend on the MnIr thickness, which means that all the uncompensated AF spins are aligned to one direction in $300^{\circ}C$ annealed samples. Therefore, the uncompensated AF spins are divided into two different parts. One parts are fixed at the interface between CoFe/MnIr bilayers and induces the $H_{ex}$, other parts are rotatable with magnetic field and induces the $H_{ra}$. Finally, the exchange coupling energy can be expressed by the sum of the exchange bias energy and rotatable anisotropy energy.