Shenyang National Laboratory for Materials Science, Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110016, China.
Nanoscale. 2018 Apr 26;10(16):7612-7618. doi: 10.1039/c7nr09513a.
A perpendicularly magnetized synthetic antiferromagnetic structure is a promising alternative to a single ferromagnetic layer in spintronic applications because of its low net magnetization and high thermal stability. In this work, the ferromagnetic layers in the synthetic antiferromagnetic structure are simplified to 'soft' Co70Fe30 layers with the aid of ultrathin Pt insert layers between the ferromagnetic layers and the exchange coupling Ru layer to lower the energy consumption. In the current-driven manipulation of the magnetization, asymmetric switching loops are observed, which originate from the edge domain walls induced by the growth of the electrode pads. The edge domain walls preserved beneath the electrode pad help the switching process skipping the nucleation stage, lowering the critical current density to the order of 106 A cm-2. The present work broadens the choice of ferromagnetic layers for building an SAF structure and highlights a new way to utilize the synthetic antiferromagnetic structure as a building block in low-energy-consuming spintronic devices.
垂直磁化的人工反铁磁结构由于其净磁化强度低和热稳定性高，是自旋电子学应用中替代单一铁磁层的一种很有前途的选择。在这项工作中，通过在铁磁层和交换耦合 Ru 层之间插入超薄 Pt 插层，将人工反铁磁结构中的铁磁层简化为“软”Co70Fe30 层，以降低能量消耗。在电流驱动的磁化操作中，观察到不对称的开关回线，这源于由电极垫生长引起的边缘畴壁。保留在电极垫下方的边缘畴壁有助于切换过程跳过成核阶段，将临界电流密度降低到 106 A cm-2 的量级。本工作拓宽了构建 SAF 结构的铁磁层选择，并强调了一种新的方法，可将人工反铁磁结构用作低能耗自旋电子器件的构建模块。
