Effects of an Os layer on the magnetic properties of CoFe/IrMn

The uses of Os as an antidiffusion and buffer layer in IrMn exchange coupled CoFe film were investigated. For the purpose of antidiffusion, the inserted Os layer showed a distinct improvement of S > 0.9, with HC slightly increasing by 1.6 times for the CoFeOsMnOs multilayer after 400 °C annealing, even though the Os thickness was as thin as 0.3 nm. Furthermore, with a 0.3 nm Os barrier, the 350 °C annealed CoFeOsIrMnCoFe showed almost the same magnetic behavior as the as-deposited state, while the Hex of the upper part of the CoFeOsIrMn changed from 100 to 190 Oe. In addition, as a buffer layer, the Os buffer layer could enhance the diffraction peak intensities of IrMn (111) Os (002) and CoFe (111), and the Hex of CoFeIrMn was proportional to the Os thickness. A 120 Oe of Hex was achieved by using an 11 nm Os buffer layer in a CoFe 10 nmIrMn 15 nm bottom type film. These results show that Os has the potential to be an antidiffusion and buffer layer in a magnetic multilayer.