Magnetization reversal and magnetoresistance behavior of perpendicularly magnetized [Co/Pd]4/Au/[Co/Pd]2 nanowires J. Appl. Phys. 112, 073902 (2012) Electric-field control of CoFeB/IrMn exchange bias system J. Appl. Phys. 112, 064120 (2012) Critical effect of spin-dependent transport in a tunnel barrier on enhanced Hanle-type signals observed in threeterminal geometry Appl. Phys. Lett. 101, 132411 (2012) Giant tunneling magnetoresistance in epitaxial Co2MnSi/MgO/Co2MnSi magnetic tunnel junctions by halfmetallicity of Co2MnSi and coherent tunneling Appl. Phys. Lett. 101, 132418 (2012) Interface mediated ferromagnetism in bulk CuO/Cu2O composites Appl.

The plasma potential and the potential of an electrically isolated surface are measured in an rf diode sputtering glow discharge. The influence on these potentials of both the geometry enclosing the discharge volume and of a positively biased auxiliary electrode in contact with the discharge is investigated. It is shown that confining the discharge increases the plasma potential and the energy of positive ions incident on electrically isolated substrates, whereas applying a positive voltage to an auxiliary electrode also increases the plasma potential but does not significantly increase the energy of ions incident on electrically isolated substrates. The effect of rf modulation on the ionic energy distributions is demonstrated. This occurs as the ions pass through the plasma-substrate sheath and results in a large broadening of the energy distributions of low-mass species.

The plasma potential of 13.56-MHz low-pressure argon glow discharges has been measured for various modes of applying the rf power in a geometrically asymmetric planar system. The plasma potential is determined from the energy distribution of positive ions incident on the grounded electrode. The voltages on the excitation electrode (target electrode) are carefully measured and the capacitive sheath approximation is used to relate these measured voltages to the measured plasma potential. This approximation is successful in most of the situations encountered in this low-pressure (20 mTorr) relatively low-power density regime. The effects of superimposing dc voltages on the excitation electrode are discussed.

We show that an in situ Kerr rotation measurement is a very effective technique for the study of antiferromagnetic (AF) ferromagnetic (F) film couples. Magnetic signals can be obtained even in the case where the (AF) is the top layer up to at least 200 A of AF thickness. We have used this in situ approach combined with ion milling to study the thickness dependence of the magnetic properties of MnsoFesoiNisoFe2o systems. We observe that the exchange bias field has a surprisingly sharp onset at a critical thickness of AF -50 A. We show that this is consistent with a simple model and that the magnetic anisotropy of MnFe can be estimated from the observed critical thickness to be -1.35 X 105 erg/cm3. The exchange field showed the predicted proportionality to the inverse of the F thickness from -50 to 400 A. Auger spectroscopy and spin polarized secondary electron emission have been used to rule out gross artifacts due to ion milling.

The concentration of argon in sputtered nickel films has been obtained as a function of the film-growth temperature, the discharge pressure, and of the energy (bias voltage) with which the argon ions bombard the growing film. The concentrations vary from about 10-1 argon atoms/Ni atom to lQ-4 argon atorns/Ni atom, depending upon the conditions during film growth. The incorporation of both argon and nitrogen into nickel films is interpreted on the basis of results previously obtained from sorption studies in a more-idealized system on a pre-existing nickel surface.