No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

The exchange bias anisotropy field in CoFe/IrMn ferromagnetic/antiferromagnetic bilayers has been investigated by two different experimental probes. One was the traditional hysteresis loop shift technique and the other was a recently developed technique which monitors small reversible rotations of the magnetization with the anisotropic magnetoresistance (AMR). All the samples show approximately twice the exchange bias anisotropy field measured with the AMR technique compared to that measured with the traditional hysteresis loop method. Based on similar experiments in other materials, there is a portion of the exchange bias uniaxial anisotropy which rotates in a hysteresis loop measurement. It is surmised it is this energy which the hysteresis loop technique neglects and that the AMR technique is a better measure of the exchange bias anisotropy energy.

We have investigated a nonsymmetric bottom giant magnetoresistance spin valve with the structure Si/NiO/Co/Cu/Co/Ta, as well as single ferromagnetic Co layers on antiferromagnetic NiO, with or without a nonmagnetic Cu spacer. Magnetic hysteresis loops have been measured by SQUID magnetometry, and magnetic domain structures have been imaged using an advanced magneto-optical indicator film (MOIF) technique. The MOIF technique demonstrated that the first stage of magnetization reversal is characterized by nucleation of many microdomains. With increasing reversed field, the domain walls move over small distances (5–20 μm) until annihilation. The domain size was observed to increase with the thickness of the Co layer. When an alternating magnetic field was applied, the domain structure was dramatically changed.