Development
of modern spintronic devices requires materials exhibiting
specific magnetic effects. In this paper, we investigate a magnetization
reversal mechanism in a [Co/Pd
x
]
7
/CoO/[Co/Pd
y
]
7
thin-film composite,
where an antiferromagnet is sandwiched between a hard and a soft ferromagnets
with different coercivities. The antiferromagnet/ferromagnet interfaces
give rise to the exchange bias effect. The application of soft and
hard ferromagnetic films causes exchange-spring-like behavior, while
the choice of the Co/Pd multilayers provides large out-of-plane magnetic
anisotropy. We observed that the magnitude and the sign of the exchange
bias anisotropy field are related to the arrangement of the magnetic
moments in the antiferromagnetic layer. This ordering is induced by
the spin orientation present in neighboring ferromagnetic films, which
is, in turn, dependent on the orientation and strength of the external
magnetic field.
A highly versatile and scalable path to obtain buried magnetic nanostructures within alloy thin films, while maintaining a flat topography, is described.
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