中国物理B ›› 2015, Vol. 24 ›› Issue (4): 47502-047502.doi: 10.1088/1674-1056/24/4/047502

• CONDENSED MATTER: ELECTRONIC STRUCTURE, ELECTRICAL, MAGNETIC, AND OPTICAL PROPERTIES • 上一篇    下一篇

Model of hybrid interfacial domain wall in ferromagnetic/antiferromagnetic bilayers

章文a, 翟亚a, 鹿牧b, 游彪b, 翟宏如b, Caroline G Morganc   

  1. a Department of Physics, Southeast University, Nanjing 211189, China;
    b National Laboratory of Solid Microstructure, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China;
    c Physics Department, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI 48202, USA
  • 收稿日期:2014-09-15 修回日期:2014-09-25 出版日期:2015-04-05 发布日期:2015-04-05
  • 基金资助:

    Project supported by the National Basic Research Program, China (Grant No. 2010CB923404), the National Natural Science Foundation for Young Scientists of China (Grant No. 61306121), and the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (Grant No. 2013M541580).

Model of hybrid interfacial domain wall in ferromagnetic/antiferromagnetic bilayers

Zhang Wen (章文)a, Zhai Ya (翟亚)a, Lu Mu (鹿牧)b, You Biao (游彪)b, Zhai Hong-Ru (翟宏如)b, Caroline G Morganc   

  1. a Department of Physics, Southeast University, Nanjing 211189, China;
    b National Laboratory of Solid Microstructure, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China;
    c Physics Department, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI 48202, USA
  • Received:2014-09-15 Revised:2014-09-25 Online:2015-04-05 Published:2015-04-05
  • Contact: Zhai Ya E-mail:yazhai@seu.edu.cn
  • Supported by:

    Project supported by the National Basic Research Program, China (Grant No. 2010CB923404), the National Natural Science Foundation for Young Scientists of China (Grant No. 61306121), and the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (Grant No. 2013M541580).

摘要:

A general model of a hybrid interfacial domain wall (HIDW) in ferromagnetic/antiferromagnetic exchange biased bilayers is proposed, where an interfacial domain wall is allowed to extend into either the ferromagnetic or antiferromagnetic layer or across both. The proposition is based on our theoretical investigation on thickness and field dependences of ferromagnetic domain wall (FMDW) and antiferromagnetic domain wall (AFDW), respectively. Good match of the simulation to the hysteresis loops of a series of NiFe/FeMn exchange-biased bilayers confirms the existence of the HIDW, where the AFDW part is found to preferentially occupy the entire antiferromagnetic layer while the FMDW shrinks with the increased magnetic field as expected. The observed asymmetry between the ascending and descending branches of the hysteresis loop is explained naturally as a consequence of different partition ratios between AFDW and FMDW.

关键词: exchange bias, interfacial domain wall, ferromagnetic/antiferromagnetic bilayer

Abstract:

A general model of a hybrid interfacial domain wall (HIDW) in ferromagnetic/antiferromagnetic exchange biased bilayers is proposed, where an interfacial domain wall is allowed to extend into either the ferromagnetic or antiferromagnetic layer or across both. The proposition is based on our theoretical investigation on thickness and field dependences of ferromagnetic domain wall (FMDW) and antiferromagnetic domain wall (AFDW), respectively. Good match of the simulation to the hysteresis loops of a series of NiFe/FeMn exchange-biased bilayers confirms the existence of the HIDW, where the AFDW part is found to preferentially occupy the entire antiferromagnetic layer while the FMDW shrinks with the increased magnetic field as expected. The observed asymmetry between the ascending and descending branches of the hysteresis loop is explained naturally as a consequence of different partition ratios between AFDW and FMDW.

Key words: exchange bias, interfacial domain wall, ferromagnetic/antiferromagnetic bilayer

中图分类号:  (Domain walls and domain structure)

  • 75.60.Ch
75.60.Ej (Magnetization curves, hysteresis, Barkhausen and related effects) 75.70.Cn (Magnetic properties of interfaces (multilayers, superlattices, heterostructures)) 75.70.-i (Magnetic properties of thin films, surfaces, and interfaces)