Giant exchange bias effect in all-3d-metal Ni38.8Co2.9Mn37.9Ti20.4 thin film

In this work, a giant exchange bias field of over 1 kOe, which is uncommon in film systems, is obtained in all-3d-metal Heusler-type Ni38.8Co2.9Mn37.9Ti20.4 thin films. The thermomagnetic curves show an unambiguous noncoincidence between zero-field-cooled and field-cooled protocols, indicating the presence of magnetically inhomogeneous phases in the film in the low temperature range. Magnetic measurements, including magnetic relaxation and magnetic memory effects, demonstrate that the exchange bias should be attributed to the exchange interaction between ferromagnetic clusters and the antiferromagnetic host in the Ni38.8Co2.9Mn37.9Ti20.4 thin film at low temperature. The local Mn-Co-Mn configuration provides the ferromagnetic contribution, which is formed in the antiferromagnetic Heusler main phase due to the small amount of Co-substitution for Ni. The achievement of the large exchange bias effect in the Ni38.8Co2.9Mn37.9Ti20.4 thin film is a significant addition to the existing multiple magneto-responsive effects in all-3d-metal Ni-Mn-based Heusler systems.