Abstract.
A study of exchange bias phenomenon in ferrimagnetic /ferromagnetic FeGd/ FeSn bilayers is presented. The amorphous FeSn and FeGd alloys have been grown by co-evaporation. Specific growth conditions allow to induce an uniaxial anisotropy in both alloys in a parallel direction. After saturation of the bilayers under a positive field, the hysteresis loop of one of the layer is shifted towards a positive field H E . The sign of the exchange bias field H E is shown to be due to the antiferromagnetic coupling between the net magnetizations of both alloys. The field H E is studied as a function of the thickness of each layer and of the temperature. Using ac-susceptibility measurements and polarized neutron reflectometry, it is shown that the reversal of magnetization of the bilayers is dominated by the presence of a domain wall at the interface. This exchange bias system is shown to act as a potential well for the magnetic domain wall. Within this assumption and thanks to a precise magnetic characterization of each alloy, the evolution of H E with the thickness of the layers is well reproduced using simple one-dimensional analytical models for the domain wall or a more elaborate numerical approach.
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Received: 20 February 2003, Published online: 9 September 2003
PACS:
75.60.Ch Domain walls and domain structure - 75.70.-i Magnetic properties of thin films, surfaces, and interfaces - 75.25.+z Spin arrangements in magnetically ordered materials (including neutron and spin-polarized electron studies, synchrotron-source X-ray scattering, etc.)
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Canet, F., Bellouard, C., Mangin, S. et al. Exchange bias like effect induced by domain walls in FeGd/FeSn bilayers. Eur. Phys. J. B 34, 381–394 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1140/epjb/e2003-00235-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1140/epjb/e2003-00235-y