Abstract
Herein, the structural and magnetic properties of polycrystalline UL-X/Pt/Py/IrMn thin films were studied to observe the role of an underlayer on the exchange bias properties. Thin films with Pt, Cu, Au or Cr underlayers (UL-X) were deposited at room temperature by magnetron sputtering. The structural properties of the samples were investigated to analyze the layer thicknesses, material densities, interface roughnesses, and crystal structures of the samples. Magnetic characterization measurements were performed to obtain the sign and the value of exchange bias properties in the samples. The differences in the sign and the value of exchange bias effect in the samples with different underlayers are mainly explained by discussing the effects of lattice parameters and growth conditions. On this basis, one would expect that these results will help in designing new spintronic devices.
Thanks
We are grateful to the Nanomagnetism and Spintronics Laboratory (NASAM) of Gebze Technical University for the sputtering facilities provided for the sample growth. Magnetic measurements were performed at the MOKE and PPMS laboratories of the Physics Department of Gebze Technical University. The authors thank the staff member Adem Şen for his support during the XRD analysis.