Manipulating the magnetic and transport properties by CuIr thickness in CoFeB/CuIr/IrMn multilayers

In this study, it was investigated how the magnetic and electrical properties of the exchange biased multilayers are affected by the Pt and CuIr spacer layer thicknesses. For this purpose, CoFeB/NM/IrMn sample stacks which can be used as magnetic field sensors based on the anisotropic magnetoresistance and planar Hall effect (PHE) were designed. The magnetic and electrical results showed an unexpected behavior to the variations in the spacer layer thickness when a CuIr spacer layer was used instead of a Pt spacer layer in terms of the properties of exchange bias, anisotropic magneto-resistance voltage and PHE voltage. This phenomenon is explained by the layer interdiffusion between CuIr and IrMn layers.

Automated summary

This study investigates the effects of Pt and CuIr spacer layer thicknesses on the magnetic and electrical properties of exchange biased multilayers. The results show unexpected behavior in terms of exchange bias, anisotropic magneto-resistance voltage and planar Hall effect voltage when using a CuIr spacer layer instead of a Pt spacer layer, which is explained by layer interdiffusion between CuIr and IrMn layers.