The effect of nonmagnetic defects on magnetic behavior for multilayers Ta/Co/Co3O4/Ta

• DOI: 10.1016/j.apsusc.2005.05.032
• Publication Date: 2005-06-28T16:19:55Z
• Authors: Yaxin Wang; Wei Tian; Jie Xiong; Yixing Wang; Liang Sun; Qi Li; Biao You; An Hu; Hongru Zhai; Mu Lu
• Keywords: 0103 physical sciences; 01 natural sciences

Abstract The exchange bias field H E was much higher for Ta/Co/Co 3 O 4 /Ta than Ta/Co/Co 3 O 4 , fabricated in a magnetron sputtering system under the same experimental conditions. The XPS analysis showed that Ta atoms of cap layer for Ta/Co/Co 3 O 4 /Ta diffused into Co 3 O 4 layer and reduced Co 3 O 4 , and introduced some nonmagnetic defects into the AFM layer. The dilution of the AFM layer led to the formation of volume domains. We believed that the higher H E for the multilayers Ta/Co/Co 3 O 4 /Ta was primarily attributed to the formation of volume domain due to some nonmagnetic defects in AFM layer.