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Longitudinal and transverse giant magnetoimpedance ͑GMI͒ effects are studied in FeCuNbSiB and FeCuNbSiB/Cu/FeCuNbSiB films. In regard to as-deposited single layer films, hardly any GMI effect can be detected, while for as-deposited sandwiched films, the maximum GMI ratios of 32% and 11% are obtained in longitudinal and transverse fields, respectively. After annealing, the maximum GMI ratios of 18% and 14% are obtained for the single-layer films in longitudinal and transverse cases, while for the sandwiched films, the maximum GMI ratios are 67% and 80% in longitudinal and transverse cases, respectively. A giant magnetoinductance ratio as large as 1733% is obtained in annealed sandwiched films at a low frequency of 100 kHz. In order to know the relation between GMI effect and magnetic properties of the samples, the domain structures are observed by the Kerr effect.

Ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) is one of the most important characteristics of soft magnetic materials, which practically sets the maximum operation speed of these materials. There are two FMR modes in exchange coupled ferromagnet/nonmagnet/ferromagnet sandwich films. The acoustic mode has relatively lower frequency and is widely used in radio‐frequency/microwave devices, while the optical mode is largely neglected due to its tiny permeability even though it supports much higher frequency. Here, a realistic method is reported to enhance the permeability in the optical mode to an applicable level. FeCoB/Ru/FeCoB trilayers are carefully engineered with both uniaxial magnetic anisotropy and antiferromagnetic interlayer exchange coupling. This special magnetic structure exhibits a high optical mode frequency up to 11.28 GHz and a maximum permeability of 200 at resonance. An abnormally low inverse switch field (<200 Oe, less than 1/5 of the single layer) is observed which can effectively switch the system from optical mode with higher frequency into acoustic mode with lower frequency. The optical mode frequency and inverse switch field can be controlled by tailoring the interlayer coupling strengths and the uniaxial anisotropy fields, respectively. The tunable optical mode resonance thus can increase operation frequency while reduce operation field overhead in FMR based devices.

Programmable magnetic field-free manipulation of perpendicular magnetization switching is essential for the development of ultralow-power spintronic devices. However, the magnetization in a centrosymmetric single-layer ferromagnetic film cannot be switched directly by passing an electrical current in itself. Here, we demonstrate a repeatable bulk spin-orbit torque (SOT) switching of the perpendicularly magnetized CoPt alloy single-layer films by introducing a composition gradient in the thickness direction to break the inversion symmetry. Experimental results reveal that the bulk SOT-induced effective field on the domain walls leads to the domain walls motion and magnetization switching. Moreover, magnetic field-free perpendicular magnetization switching caused by SOT and its switching polarity (clockwise or counterclockwise) can be reversibly controlled in the IrMn/Co/Ru/CoPt heterojunctions based on the exchange bias and interlayer exchange coupling. This unique composition gradient approach accompanied with electrically controllable SOT magnetization switching provides a promising strategy to access energy-efficient control of memory and logic devices.

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