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Detection of Pinholes in Ultrathin Films by Magnetic Coupling

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 March 2011

W. F. Egelhoff Jr ,
L. Gan ,
P. J. Chen ,
C. J. Powell ,
R. D. Mcmichael ,
R. A. Fry ,
G. Beach ,
D. Martien  and
A. E. Berkowitz
W. F. Egelhoff Jr
Affiliation:
National Institute of Standards and Technology Gaithersburg, MD 20899
L. Gan
Affiliation:
National Institute of Standards and Technology Gaithersburg, MD 20899
P. J. Chen
Affiliation:
National Institute of Standards and Technology Gaithersburg, MD 20899
C. J. Powell
Affiliation:
National Institute of Standards and Technology Gaithersburg, MD 20899
R. D. Mcmichael
Affiliation:
National Institute of Standards and Technology Gaithersburg, MD 20899
R. A. Fry
Affiliation:
National Institute of Standards and Technology Gaithersburg, MD 20899
G. Beach
Affiliation:
Center for Magnetic Recording ResearchUniversity of California at San DiegoLa Jolla, CA 92093
D. Martien
Affiliation:
Center for Magnetic Recording ResearchUniversity of California at San DiegoLa Jolla, CA 92093
A. E. Berkowitz
Affiliation:
Center for Magnetic Recording ResearchUniversity of California at San DiegoLa Jolla, CA 92093
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Abstract

When two magnetic films are separated by a nonmagnetic film, pinholes in the nonmagnetic film can allow direct contact and, thereby, direct magnetic exchange coupling between the two magnetic films. We have studied this coupling by having one of the magnetic films pinned and leaving the other free to switch at low field. The pinning is accomplished with test structures based on exchange bias and synthetic antiferromagnetic layers. Since the pinning strength increases sharply at low temperatures but orange-peel coupling does not, low-temperature (77 K) measurements appear to identify whether an observed coupling arises primarily from magnetic coupling through pinholes or primarily from orange-peel roughness. Our measurements appear to indicate that the observed coupling arises primarily from magnetic coupling through pinholes for Cu films less than 2.1 nm thick and for Al2O3films less than 0.6 nm thick but primarily from roughness-induced (orange-peel) magnetostatic coupling for larger thicknesses.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 674: Symposia T/U/V – Applications of Ferromagnetic and Optical Materials, Storage and Magnetoelectronics , 2001 , T1.2
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2001

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References

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