2021/09/16 by Sri Sai Phani Kanth Arekapudi, Daniel Bülz, Arekapudi, Sri Sai Phani Kanth +17
Materials Science · Physics and Astronomy · #Applied Physics (physics.app-ph) #FOS: Physical sciences #Magnetic and transport properties of perovskites and related materials #Magnetic properties of thin films #Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci) #Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics (cond-mat.mes-hall) #ZnO doping and properties
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2109.08136
openalex publication_date 2021/09/16 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
Antiferromagnets (AFMs) with zero net magnetization are proposed as active elements in future spintronic devices. Depending on the critical thickness of the AFM thin films and the measurement temperature, bimetallic Mn-based alloys and transition metal oxide-based AFMs can host various coexisting ordered, disordered, and frustrated AFM phases. Such coexisting phases in the exchange coupled ferromagnetic (FM)/AFM-based heterostructures can result in unusual magnetic and magnetotransport phenomena. Here, we integrate chemically disordered AFM IrMn3 thin films with coexisting AFM phases into complex exchange coupled MgO(001)/Ni3Fe/IrMn3/Ni3Fe/CoO heterostructures and study the structural, magnetic, and magnetotransport properties in various magnetic field cooling states. In particular, we unveil the impact of rotating the relative orientation of the disordered and reversible AFM moments with respect to the irreversible AFM moments on the magnetic and magnetoresistance properties of the exchange coupled heterostructures. We further found that the persistence of AFM grains with thermally disordered and reversible AFM order is crucial for achieving highly tunable magnetic properties and multi-level magnetoresistance states. We anticipate that the introduced approach and the heterostructure architecture can be utilized in future spintronic devices to manipulate the thermally disordered and reversible AFM order at the nanoscale.