Phys. Rev. Lett. Phys. Rev. A Phys. Rev. B Phys. Rev. C Phys. Rev. D Phys. Rev. E Phys. Rev. ST AB Rev. Mod. Phys. Phys. Rev. (Series I) Phys. Rev. Volume: Page/Article:

Phys. Rev. B 35, 3679–3682 (1987)

[Issue 7 – 1 March 1987 ]

[ Previous article | Next article | Issue 7 contents ]

Random-field model of exchange anisotropy at rough ferromagnetic-antiferromagnetic interfaces

A. P. Malozemoff

IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center, Yorktown Heights, New York 10598

A field-asymmetric offset of the hysteresis loop in ferromagnetic-antiferromagnetic sandwiches, one of the manifestations of so-called exchange anisotropy, can be predicted from the presence of random interface roughness giving rise to a random field acting on the interface spins. The antiferromagnet breaks up into domains of size determined by the competition of exchange and an additional uniaxial in-plane anisotropy, and this size sets the scale for averaging of the random field.

©1987 The American Physical Society

URL: http://link.aps.org/abstract/PRB/v35/p3679
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.35.3679
PACS: 75.70.Kw, 75.10.-b, 75.50.Ee, 75.60.Ej

[ Previous article | Next article | Issue 7 contents ]

References

1. W. H. Meiklejohn and C. P. Bean, Phys. Rev. 102, 1413 (1956); and, 105, 904 (1957); W. H. Meiklejohn, J. Appl. Phys. 33, 1328 (1962).
2. J. S. Kouvel, J. Phys. Chem. Solids 21, 57 (1961); 24, 795 (1963).
3. A. Yelon, in Physics of Thin Films, edited by M. Francombe and R. Hoffmann (Academic, New York, 1971), Vol. 6, p. 205.
4. L. Neel, Ann. Phys. (Paris) 2, 61 (1967).
5. C. Schlenker and D. Paccard, J. Phys. (Paris) 28, 611 (1967); C. Schlenker, Phys. Status Solidi 28, 507 (1968).
6. R. D. Hempstead, S. Krongelb and D. A. Thompson, IEEE Trans. Magn. 14, 521 (1978).
7. C. Tsang, N. Heiman and K. Lee, J. Appl. Phys. 52, 2471 (1981) [ SPIN][ INSPEC].
8. Ph. Lambin and F. Herman, Phys. Rev. B 30, 6903 (1984).
9. N. H. March, Ph. Lambin and F. Herman, J. Magn. Magn. Mater. 44, 1 (1984) [ INSPEC].
10. Y. Imry and S. K. Ma, Phys. Rev. Lett. 35, 1399 (1975).
11. C. Schlenker, S. S. P. Parkin, J. C. Scott and J. K. Howard, J. Magn. Magn. Mater. 54" ndash bold "57, 801 (1986).
12. D. Mauri, E. Kay, D. Scholl, and J. K. Howard (unpublished).
13. In independent work, D. Mauri, H. C. Siegmann, P. S. Bagus, and E. Kay have investigated the idea of an interfacial uniform planar domain and find a similar square-root anisotropy dependence.
14. For example, see H. C. Siegmann, P. S. Bagus, and E. Kay (unpublished).
15. H. Uchishiba, H. Tominaga, T. Namikata and S. Sakai, IEEE Trans. Magn. 9, 381 (1973).
16. For example, see A. P. Malozemoff and J. C. Slonczewski, Magnetic Domain Walls in Bubble Materials (Academic, New York, 1979), pp. 27, 28, and 77–81.

[ Previous article | Next article | Issue 7 contents ]