Magnetic properties of double exchange biased diluted magnetic alloy/ferromagnet/antiferromagnet trilayers

TL;DR

This study investigates the magnetic behavior of trilayers composed of a diluted magnetic alloy, a soft ferromagnet, and an antiferromagnet, revealing exchange bias effects and inverse bias phenomena within specific temperature and thickness ranges.

Contribution

It provides new insights into the magnetic interactions and exchange bias effects in CuMn/ferromagnet/antiferromagnet trilayers fabricated by UHV sputtering.

Findings

Observation of typical exchange bias features such as hysteresis shifts and coercivity enhancements.

Detection of inverse bias phenomena in certain temperature and thickness conditions.

Magnetic properties characterized over a temperature range of 3-100 K.

Abstract

The magnetic properties of trilayers consisting of a diluted magnetic alloy, CuMn (Cu0.99Mn0.01), a soft ferromagnet, Py(Ni0.8Fe0.2), and an antiferromagnet, alpha-Fe2O3, were investigated. The samples, grown by UHV magnetron sputtering, were magnetically characterized in the temperature range T = 3-100 K. Typical exchange bias features, namely clear hysteresis cycle shifts and coercivity enhancements, were observed. Moreover the presence of an inverse bias, which had been already reported for spin glass-based structures, was also obtained in a well defined range of temperatures and CuMn thicknesses.