Acta Metallurgica Sinica (English Letters) ›› 2006, Vol. 19 ›› Issue (4): 235-243 .

• Research Articles •     Next Articles

INFLUENCE OF THE NONMAGNETIC METAL SPACER ON THE MAGNETIC PROPERTIES AND MICROSTRUCTURE OF THE MULTILAYER FILMS

M.H. Li, G.H. Yu, F.W. Zhu, H.W. Jiang and W.Y. Lai   

  1. College of Mechanical Engineering, South China University of Technology
  • Received:2005-11-07 Revised:2006-04-10 Online:2006-08-25 Published:2009-10-10

Abstract: Ta / NiFe/ Bi (Ag, Cu)/ FeMn /Ta and Ta / NiFeI /FeMn / Bi(Ag, Cu)/ NiFeII / Ta films were prepared by magnetic sputtering. The texture and the dependences of the exchange-coupling field on the thickness of Bi, Ag, and Cu in Ta / NiFe/ Bi(Ag, Cu) /FeMn /Ta and Ta/ NiFeI / FeMn / Bi(Ag, Cu)/ NiFeII / Ta films were studied. XPS results indicate that the Bi atoms migrated into the FeMn layer during the deposition process and a FeMnBi alloy was probably formed or the Bi atoms existed as an impurity in the FeMn layer in Ta / NiFe / Bi(Ag, Cu)/ FeMn / Ta. Otherwise, in Ta / NiFeI / FeMn / Bi(Ag, Cu) / NiFeII / Ta films, Bi, Ag, and Cu atoms do not remain entirely at the interface of the FeMn / NiFeII film, but at least partly segregate to the surface of the NiFe film.

Key words: iFe/FeMn, nonmagnetic spacer, exchange coupling