@article{121137b830444e26beb4e062a65ad25d,
title = "Combination of exchange-bias and long-range interlayer couplings in Fe/fct-Mn/Co trilayers",
abstract = "In this study, Fe/Mn/Co trilayers were grown on Cu(100) to investigate the combination of exchange-bias coupling and long-range interlayer coupling. The crystalline structures of fct-Co and fct-Mn were confirmed by low energy electron diffraction (LEED) and I/V-LEED. The magnetic hysteresis loops were measured by magneto-optical Kerr effect as a function of Fe and Mn thickness. When the fct-Mn was increased to 24 ML, the Co and Fe layers underwent incoherent two-step magnetization switching with a special feature. The interlayer coupling preferred coherent rotation of Fe and Co, but the exchange bias coupling of Mn/Co increased the coercivity of the Co layer, prohibiting rotation simultaneous with the Fe layer. As a result, during the Fe flipping, the Co layer first rotated in accordance with the Fe layer and then turned back to the initial orientation. Our simulation also demonstrated a similar phenomenon when the exchange bias coupling and interlayer coupling were of comparable magnitude.",
author = "Wang, {Chih Hsiung} and Huang, {Ya Yun} and Lin, {Wen Chin}",
note = "Funding Information: This work was supported by the National Science Council of Taiwan under Grant Nos. NSC 99-2738-M-003-001 and NSC 99-2112-M-003-009-MY3. FIG. 1. (Color online) (a) I/V-LEED curves of 10 and 2 ML Mn/10 ML Co/Cu(100), 10 ML Co/Cu(100), and Cu(100). (b) The deduced interlayer distances of the various samples. LEED patterns of (c) 10 ML Mn/10 ML Co/Cu(100) (63 eV), (d) 10 ML Co/Cu(100) (69 eV), and (e) Cu(100) (67 eV). FIG. 2. (Color online) Normalized in-plane MOKE hysteresis loops of Fe/Mn/10 ML Co/Cu(100) with the variation of Fe and Mn thicknesses. FIG. 3. (Color online) Analysis results from Fig. 2 . The coercivity field ( H c ) of Fe/0, 16, 24 ML Mn/10 ML Co/Cu(100) as a function of Fe thickness. H c 1 and H c 2 are the coercivity for the first and second switching in the two-step loops. FIG. 4. (Color online) The ratio of remanence ( M r )/saturation M s for Fe/0, 16, 24 ML Mn/10 ML Co trilayers as a function of Fe thickness. FIG. 5. (Color online) (a) MOKE hysteresis loop of 13 ML Fe/24 ML Mn/10 ML Co/Cu(100). The numbers indicate the proposed configuration of Fe and Co moments shown in (c). (b) Total magnetic energy related to the Co layer as a function of θ Co with the variation of θ Fe from + 90° to − 90° and a step of 18°. The curves for θ Fe = −72° to − 90° are plotted with a smaller step of 3.6°. The arrows indicate the θ Co values at the energy minimum. (c) The minimum energy position of θ Co in (b) plotted as a function of the corresponding θ Fe . ",
year = "2011",
month = may,
day = "15",
doi = "10.1063/1.3592345",
language = "English",
volume = "109",
journal = "Journal of Applied Physics",
issn = "0021-8979",
publisher = "American Institute of Physics Publising LLC",
number = "10",
}