Theoretical investigation of exchange bias

The exchange bias of bilayer magnetic films consisting of ferromagnetic (FM) and antiferromagnetic (AFM) layers in an uncompensated case is studied by use of the many-body Green's function method of quantum statistical theory. The effects of the layer thickness and temperature and the interfacial coupling strength on the exchange bias H_E are investigated. The dependence of the exchange bias H_E on the FM layer thickness and temperature is qualitatively in agreement with experimental results. When temperature varies, both the coercivity H_C and H_E decrease with the temperature increasing. For each FM thickness, there exists a least AFM thickness in which the exchange bias occurs, which is called pinning thickness.     

Exchange bias on epitaxial Ni films due to ultrathin NiO layer

Exchange anisotropy refers to the effect that an antiferromagnetic (AF) layer grown in contact with a ferromagnetic (FM) layer has on the magnetic response of the FM layer. The most notable changes in the FM hysteresis loop due to the surface exchange coupling are a coercivity enhanced over the value typically observed in films grown on a nonmagnetic substrate, and a shift in the hysteresis loop of the ferromagnet away from the zero field axis. A typical observation is that the thickness of the antiferromagnet needs to exceed a critical value before exchange bias is observed. Here we report on the exchange bias properties observed in an epitaxial Ni/NiO system where a thin NiO layer forms spontaneously and is observed after annealing epitaxial Ni films MBE grown on MgO substrates.     

Polar and longitudinal magnetooptical Kerr effects in magnetic film/spacer/magnetic substrate system

The paper deals with the electromagnetic theory of longitudinal and normal incidence polar magnetooptical Kerr effects (MOKE) in sandwich structures consisting of a magnetic film on a thick magnetic substrate separated by a nonmagnetic spacer. These structures are employed in fundamental studies of magnetic exchange coupling, tunnel magnetoresistance, spin polarized current,etc., as well as in the design of the magnetoelectronic devices,e.g., magnetic random access memories. The results are expressed in terms of the Jones reflection matrix. This makes the analysis of the observed MOKE in various experimental set-ups easier. To first order in off-diagonal elements of the permittivity tensor, the analytical expressions approximate the results obtained using rigorous matrix formalisms with a little loss in accuracy, provided the magnetooptical effects quadratic in the offdiagonal elements are negligible. The total MOKE is expressed as a a sum of components originating from magnetic film and magnetic substrate, respectively. The components enter the analytical expressions with different phases and may be identified separately by a proper control of the polarization state and photon energy of the incident radiation, angle of incidence, nonmagnetic spacer thickness, and radiation wavelength. The formulae are derived without any restriction on the magnetic film thickness. However, for a rapid evaluation of the trends the MOKE response is also treated under the assumption that the thickness of the magnetic film is much smaller than the radiation wavelength. This work has been partially supported by Grant Agency of the Czech Republic (#202/97/1180 and #202/00/0761), Barrande Project and Grant Agency of Charles University.     

Brillouin light scattering from spin waves in magnetic layers and multilayers

We give an overview on our experimental and theoretical investigations of Brillouin light scattering in magnetic thin films, layered magnetic structures and superlattices. For epitaxial Fe(1 10) layers on W(1 10) the in-plane and out-of-plane magnetic surface anisotropy constants are determined, and the influence of Pd overlayers on the surface anisotropies is studied. For Fe/Pd superlattices a magnetic polarization of the Pd at the interfaces is established and the interface anisotropy constant is determined. For second order Fe/Pd superlattices, formed by alternating two Fe/Pd bilayers with different repeat periods, the Brillouin spectrum is obtained and compared to calculations. In the case of magnetic/nonmagnetic multilayered structures we investigate theoretically the crossing regime between dipolar and exchange-dominated modes. For small spacer-layer thicknesses, interlayer exchange coupling shifts the spin-wave frequencies of all but the highest-frequency dipolar mode into the exchange-mode regime. In case of all-magnetic multilayered structures, such as Fe/Ni multilayers, a new type of propagating collective excitations arising from coupled exchange modes is predicted.     

Electronic and magnetic properties of ultrathin films and interfaces investigated by dichroic core-level photoelectron spectroscopy

The electronic and magnetic structures of ultrathin films made of a ferromagnetic and a nonmagnetic material are theoretically investigated by means of magnetic dichroism in spin- and angle-resolved core-level photoelectron spectroscopy. How these properties manifest themselves in the photoemission intensities is analyzed with a focus on the interface between film and substrate. The dependence on both exchange and spin–orbit splitting, magnetic ordering, core-level shift and on the thickness of the covering layer are investigated in detail. Ultrathin films of Fe and Pd serve as prototypical systems because of their large exchange and spin–orbit splittings, respectively.     

Spacer dependence effect in synthetic magnetic force microscopy tips

A series of magnetic force microscopy tips with the synthetic structure consisting of two CoCrPt layers separated by a nonmagnetic Ru layer, which have the same magnetic layers but different thickness of the Ru layer, have been fabricated by sputtering. By analyzing the magnetic force microscopy images taken from the magnetic patterns recorded on longitudinal media, the performance of the tips was found to vary with the Ru thickness in an alternate fashion between enhanced and weakened responses. This phenomenon can be explained by the Ru thickness dependence of the exchange coupling between the two ferromagnetic layers and the corresponding frequency response of the trilayer tip. Synthetic tips with superior performances have been obtained after the Ru thickness was optimized.     

磁性夹层交换耦合中传导电子的间接交换作用分析

应用量子干涉理论和第一性原理研究了Co/Cu/Co夹层结构在[100]和[110]取向上振荡交换耦合及对磁层厚度的依赖,对夹层交换耦合振荡的计算结果表明：当相应的周期不变时,磁性层（Co）厚度的变化将导致在不同的RKKY振荡特征中势的再分配,磁层厚度发生变化时,磁性层上电子结构也发生变化,当磁性层较厚时,交换耦合仅在某一渐近值附近有一小的振荡。耦合振荡的周期、振幅和相位的测量与实验相一致,也与Barnas和Bruno 理论吻合。     

Landau-Ginzburg theory of the lock-in transition in magnetic multilayers

In magnetic multilayers the oscillatory exchange coupling across nonmagnetic metallic spacer is mediated via correlated spin fluctuations of the conduction electrons. For some metals there is no coupling across spacer while for the other the effective exchange exhibits either one or two oscillation periods. Within Landau-Ginzburg approach we explain the observed behaviour of magnetic coupling.     

T(3/2) dependence of the interlayer exchange coupling in ferromagnetic multilayers

The temperature dependence of the interlayer exchange coupling in ferromagnetic films coupled across nonmagnetic spacers is determined via in situ ferromagnetic resonance experiments for various systems. Clear evidence for a T(3/2) law is found over a wide temperature regime.     

The effect of the ferromagnetic metal layer on tunnelling conductance and magnetoresistance in double magnetic planar junctions

Based on the free-electron approximation,we investigate the effect of the ferromagnetic metal layer on the tunnelling magnetoresistance(TMR) and tunnelling conductance(TC)in the double magnetic tunnel junctions(DMTJs) of the structure NM/FM/I(S)/NM/I(S)/FM/NM,where FM,NM and I(S) represent the ferromagnetic metal,nonmagetic metal and insulator(Semiconductor),respectively,The FM,I(S)and inner NM layers are of finite thickness,while the thickness of the outer NM layer is infinite.The calculated results show that,due to the spin-dependent interfacial potential barriers caused by electronic band mismatch between the various magnetic and nonmagnetic layers,the dependences of the TMR and TC on the thicknesses of the FM layers exhibit oscillations,and a much higher TMR can be obtained for suitable thicknesses of FM layers.     

Temperature-induced reversal of magnetic interlayer exchange coupling

For epitaxial trilayers of the magnetic rare-earth metals Gd and Tb, exchange coupled through a nonmagnetic Y spacer layer, element-specific hysteresis loops were recorded by the x-ray magneto-optical Kerr effect at the rare-earth M5 thresholds. This allowed us to quantitatively determine the strength of interlayer exchange coupling (IEC). In addition to the expected oscillatory behavior as a function of spacer-layer thickness dY, a temperature-induced sign reversal of IEC was observed for constant dY, arising from magnetization-dependent electron reflectivities at the magnetic interfaces.     

Effects of nonmagnetic and magnetic impurities in the normal metal layer ofSNS junctions

The pair penetration depth into normal metal films containing various amounts of nonmagnetic or magnetic impurities is determined from the dependence of the critical current density on the normal metal film thickness in superconductor-normal metalsuperconductor junctions.     

Label-acquired magnetorotation for biosensing: An asynchronous rotation assay

This paper presents a novel application of magnetic particles for biosensing, called label-acquired magnetorotation (LAM). This method is based on a combination of the traditional sandwich assay format with the asynchronous magnetic bead rotation (AMBR) method. In label-acquired magnetorotation, an analyte facilitates the binding of a magnetic label bead to a nonmagnetic solid phase sphere, forming a sandwich complex. The sandwich complex is then placed in a rotating magnetic field, where the rotational frequency of the sandwich complex is a function of the amount of analyte attached to the surface of the sphere. Here, we use streptavidin-coated beads and biotin-coated particles as analyte mimics, to be replaced by proteins and other biological targets in future work. We show this sensing method to have a dynamic range of two orders of magnitude.     

The mechanism of interlayer exchange coupling in iron-chromium type nanostructures

A mechanism of the interlayer exchange coupling in layered structures of the Fe/Cr(001) type with rough interfaces is proposed. The theory is based on a model of the charge-induced spin density wave (SDW) formed in the chromium layer. It is shown that the effective magnetic coupling between thick ferromagnetic layers arises due to variations of the SDW vector orientation in the antiferromagnetic layer over a characteristic length ζ determined by the exchange stiffness of chromium. A general expression for the effective magnetic coupling energy E(ψ) as a function of the angle ψ between magnetic moments of the ferromagnetic layers is obtained and numerically analyzed for an arbitrary value of the parameter ρζ, where ρ is the density of monoatomic steps on the interface. For ρζ?1, the form of E(ψ) is typical of a model with the “ biquadratic” interaction, while in the case of ρζ?1, the dependence obtained differs significantly. The proposed mechanism is used to interpret the results of measurements of the interlayer exchange coupling in Fe/Cr(001) structures.     

Dependence of the ferromagnetic resonance modes on the coupling strength in exchange-coupled trilayer structures

The dependence of the dispersion relation and the magnetization on the exchange coupling strength was calculated for a system consisting of two ferromagnetic layers exchange-coupled through a nonmagnetic spacer layer. The magnetic layers are characterized by both uniaxial and cubic magnetocrystalline anisotropies. A minimization procedure was developed which allows the resonance modes to be obtained for any magnetic field orientation and strength, as well as for any exchange coupling strength. If the antiparallel coupled film is unsaturated at resonance, the dispersion relation for both acoustic and optic modes could be rather complex, especially when the field is applied in the plane of the film.     

Domain size and structure in exchange coupled [Co/Pt]/NiO/[Co/Pt] multilayers

We investigate the competing effects of interlayer exchange coupling and magnetostatic coupling in the magnetic heterostructure ([Co/Pt]/NiO/[Co/Pt]) with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA). This particular heterostructure is unique among coupled materials with PMA in directly exhibiting both ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic coupling, oscillating between the two as a function of spacer layer thickness. By systematically tuning the coupling interactions via a wedge-shaped NiO spacer layer, we explore the energetics that dictate magnetic domain formation using high resolution magnetic force microscopy coupled with the magneto-optical Kerr effect. This technique probes the microscopic and macroscopic magnetic behavior as a continuous function of thickness and the interlayer exchange coupling, including the regions where interlayer coupling goes through zero. We see significant changes in domain structure based on the sign of coupling, and also show that magnetic domain size is directly related to the magnitude of the interlayer exchange coupling energy, which generally dominates over the magnetostatic interactions. When magnetostatic interactions become comparable to the interlayer exchange coupling, a delicate interplay between the differing energy contributions is apparent and energy scales are extracted. The results are of intense interest to the magnetic recording industry and also illustrate a relatively new avenue of undiscovered physics, primarily dealing with the delicate balance of energies in the formation of magnetic domains for coupled systems with PMA, defining limits on domain size as well as the interplay between roughness, domains and magnetic coupling.     

Application of longitudinal generalized magneto-optical ellipsometry in magnetic ultrathin films

The longitudinal generalized magneto-optical ellipsometry(GME) method is extended to the measurement of threelayer ultrathin magnetic films. In this work, the theory of the reflection matrix is introduced into the GME measurement to obtain the reflective matrix parameters of ultrathin multilayer magnetic films with different thicknesses. After that, a spectroscopic ellipsometry is used to determine the optical parameter and the thickness of every layer of these samples, then the magneto-optical coupling constant of the multilayer magnetic ultrathin film can be obtained. After measurements of a series of ultrathin Fe films, the results show that the magneto-optical coupling constant Q is independent of the thickness of the magnetic film. The magneto-optical Kerr rotations and ellipticity are measured to confirm the validity of this experiment. Combined with the optical constants and the Q constant, the Kerr rotations and ellipticity are calculated in theory. The results show that the theoretical curve fits very well with the experimental data.     

Competing exchange interactions in magnetic multilayers

We have studied alloying of the nonmagnetic spacer layer with a magnetic material as a method of tuning the interlayer coupling in magnetic multilayers. We have specifically studied the Fe/V(100) system by alloying the spacer V with various amounts of Fe. For some Fe concentrations in the spacer, it is possible to create a competition between antiferromagnetic Ruderman-Kittel-Kasuya-Yoshida exchange and direct ferromagnetic exchange coupling. The exchange coupling and transport properties for a large span of systems with different spacer concentrations and thicknesses were calculated and measured experimentally and good agreement between observations and theory was observed. A reduction in magnetoresistance of about 50% was observed close to the switchover from antiferromagnetic to ferromagnetic coupling.     

稀土永磁薄膜材料

简要地介绍在纳米复合稀土永磁薄膜材料、各向异性稀土永磁薄膜材料方面的进展。在纳米复合稀土永磁薄膜材料中实现磁性交换耦合和剩磁增强效应，系统地研究了其结构与磁性的关系。制备成功高磁能积的各向异性稀土永磁薄膜材料，比较了Ti或Mo缓冲层对Nd-Fe-B薄膜的表面形貌、磁畴结构和磁性能的影响。发现薄膜的表面形貌强烈地依赖于缓冲层的厚度。由于它极大地影响薄膜的成分，溅射速率被证明是控制薄膜的显微结构、表面形貌和磁性能的一个重要因素。在微磁学模型的基础上，通过分析从5到300K的矫顽力温度依赖关系。研究了各向异性Pr-Fe-B薄膜的矫顽力机制。在晶粒表面，由于磁各向异性的降低和局域退磁场的提高导致的反转畴的形核被确定为控制各向异性Pr-Fe—B薄膜的磁化反转过程的首要机制。