Control of the Degree of Out-of-Plane Anisotropy of CoFe/Tb Multilayer by Applying an External Inplane Field During Film Deposition

Rare earth/transition metal multilayers with tunable net magnetization (M net ) and perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) are potential systems for achieving devices with high speed and density. In this paper, we perform a detailed study on the temperature (T) and thickness dependences of perpendicular magnetic properties in [Co 80 Fe 20 (0.45 nm)/Tb (x = 0.3−0.95 nm)] 5 multilayers. The strong antiferromagnetic (AF) interaction between Tb and CoFe spins is demonstrated at the interfaces, and the magnetization compensation thickness (at which M net tends to zero) is determined as x ∼ 0.6 nm at room temperature. Whether the multilayer is Tbrich or CoFe-rich, an increasing trend in magnetic coercivity is found with the decrease in T, demonstrating that the M net of the AF-coupled region is always dominated by CoFe in this structure. Furthermore, the transient polar MOKE signals were also measured at elevated T by using laser pulse heating. With the increase in pump fluence, the original rectangle loop changes to a two-step switching shape for the sample with 0.4 nm Tb due to the decreased PMA strength and increased interfacial atomic diffusion. However, for the multilayer with 0.9 nm Tb that is farther from compensation, the loop becomes very inclined since the PMA is relatively weak and nearly vanishes upon laser impulsion. These results provide a deep insight into the key roles of sublayer thicknesses and interfaces, which are very helpful for achieving efficient control of the spintronic devices based on the AF-coupled materials.

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Spin-valve sensor with an out-of-plane magnetic anisotropy: For small field sensing applications

Lee

Park

Lee

et al. 2010

Journal of Applied Physics

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This study investigates a spin-valve sensor, which consists of ferromagnetic layers with both an out-of-plane magnetic anisotropy (NiFe/Tb/NiFe layers) and an in-plane magnetic anisotropy (CoFe/IrMn layers). The out-of-plane magnetic anisotropy was able to be tuned by varying the thickness (tTb) of the Tb layer and applying an in-plane magnetic field during film deposition. In addition, the field sensitivity of the spin-valve sensor was also found to be a function of the degree of out-of-plane magnetic anisotropy. As a result, a sensor with tTb=3 nm showed a linear and reversible magnetoresistance (MR) response to an applied in-plane magnetic field with a higher sensitivity of 0.012%/Oe by one order of magnitude than that (∼0.000 75%/Oe) of a sensor with tTb=4 nm. This suggests that the spin-valve sensor can be optimized by changing the Tb thickness so that the magnetic properties of the sensing layer can meet the requirements of a small field sensing application, such as a biosensor.

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Control of the Degree of Out-of-Plane Anisotropy of CoFe/Tb Multilayer by Applying an External Inplane Field During Film Deposition

Cited by 3 publications

References 19 publications

Tunable coercivity in perpendicular (CoFe/Tb)n/CoFe multilayers

Tunable coercivity in perpendicular (CoFe/Tb)n/CoFe multilayers

Temperature Dependence of Magnetic Properties in CoFe/Tb Multilayers with Perpendicular Magnetic Anisotropy

Spin-valve sensor with an out-of-plane magnetic anisotropy: For small field sensing applications

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