Effects of antiferromagnetic spin structures on the induced perpendicular magnetic anisotropy in antiferromagnetic/ferromagnetic thin films

Bo-Yao Wang^1*, Jing-Yu Ning¹, Ming-Shian Tsai¹, Chun-Wei Huang¹, Po-Han Lin¹, Chun-Chieh Chung¹, Nae-Yeou Jih², Chun-I Lu³, Tzu-Hung Chuang³, Der-Hsin Wei³

¹Department of Physics, National Changhua University of Education, Changhua, Taiwan
²The Center of Teacher Education, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung, Taiwan
³National Synchrotron Radiation Research Center,, Hsinchu, Taiwan

* Presenter:Bo-Yao Wang, email:bywang1735@gmail.com

Antiferromagnet is a class of magnetic material with rich physics and potential application. Recently our groups have observed a new feature of an antiferromagnet, which can drive the magnetization of adjacent ferromagnetic (FM) films perpendicular [1-2]. In this talk, I will show you that the induced perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) on FM film is highly sensitive to the exchange interaction between the uncompensated moments of the antiferromagnetic (AFM) film at the interface and the moments at the volume with specific ordered AFM spins. Our result clearly demonstrated that in a selected AFM spin structure with out-of-plane uncompensated moments, the magnitude of the induced PMA in its neighbouring Co/Ni or Co/Fe films could be significantly enhanced by an establishment of a collinear-like exchange interaction between the volume moments of the AFM film and the perpendicular magnetic FM film [3,4]. Moreover, I will also show you the limitation of induced PMA by e-fct Mn film with in-plane layered spin structure. Finally, I will present that the antiferromagnet-induced PMA occurring in magnetic thin films can be effectively controlled by applying ultrathin in-plane magnetic supporting layers with high ferromagnetic ordering temperature through the mechanism of magnetic proximity effects. [5,6].

Keywords: Perpendicular magnetic anisotropy, Antiferromagnetic thin film, Uncompensated moments