GMR in CoFe/IrMn Spin-Valves Prepared by Ion Beam Sputtering Using Xe-H2 Mixture Gas

Abstract

CogoFelO/Cu/C09QFelO!Ir25Mn75 spin-valves with Ta buffer layer were prepared by ion beam sputtering. hnprovements in physical properties were obtained by adding H2 to Xe sputtering gas. Specifically, coercivity in the CoFe free layer considerably decreased with increasing H2-flow rate. In addition, exchange coupling between the IrMn and pinned CoFe layers became stronger in the preparation under the higher H2flow rate. X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscope, and secondary ion mass spectroscopy observations suggest that micro-crystallization of each layer is responsible for improving the physical properties.

"Exchange Bias Effect: A Brief Review "

“…Some of the effects of the AFM grain size are expected to besimilar to the thickness trends. While exchange bias is reported to increase with increasing grain size for some systems [22,24], but in some cases [25,26] is reported to decrease with increasing grain size.…”