AVS 45th International Symposium
    Magnetic Interfaces and Nanostructures Technical Group Wednesday Sessions
       Session MI+EM-WeM

Paper MI+EM-WeM4
High Temperature Pinning Properties of IrMn vs. FeMn in Spin Valves

Wednesday, November 4, 1998, 9:20 am, Room 324/325

Session: Spin-dependent Devices: Technology and Processing
Presenter: M.C. Tondra, Nonvolatile Electronics
Authors: M.C. Tondra, Nonvolatile Electronics
D. Wang, Nonvolatile Electronics
Correspondent: Click to Email
The antiferromagnetic pinning properties of IrMn and FeMn have been observed by building spin valve samples with the structure NiFeCo / CoFe / Cu / CoFe / NiFeCo / (IrMn or FeMn) and measuring their magnetoresistive properties. The pinning strength was evaluated in terms of the break field, defined as the field applied in the direction opposite to the magnetization of the pinned layer at which the pinned layer switches. At room temperature, the break fields for both the IrMn and FeMn samples were about 250 Oe. But as the temperature increased, the break field for samples pinned with IrMn held up considerably better than for those pinned with FeMn. Specifically, the pinning of the FeMn spin valves was gone at 150°C while the pinning of the IrMn spin valves persisted to temperatures above 225°C. The IrMn spin valves performed as well as the FeMn spin valves in terms of magnetoresistance and lithographic process compatibility.