Thickness dependence of chemical ordering and fourfold exchange anisotropy in FeRh/CoFe bilayers

Fourfold exchange anisotropy has recently been discovered in bilayers consisting of a ferromagnetic (FM) layer exchange-coupling with an epitaxial antiferromagnetic (AF) layer. The chemical ordering of the AF layer plays an important role in the interfacial exchange coupling of AF/FM bilayers. Herei...

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Main Authors: Jing Meng, Xiaoyan Zhu, Hui Zhang, Dongmei Jiang, Yang Xu, Wenjuan Cheng, Tian Shang, Qingfeng Zhan
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: IOP Publishing 2025-01-01
Series:New Journal of Physics
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Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/adbb12
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author Jing Meng
Xiaoyan Zhu
Hui Zhang
Dongmei Jiang
Yang Xu
Wenjuan Cheng
Tian Shang
Qingfeng Zhan
author_facet Jing Meng
Xiaoyan Zhu
Hui Zhang
Dongmei Jiang
Yang Xu
Wenjuan Cheng
Tian Shang
Qingfeng Zhan
author_sort Jing Meng
collection DOAJ
description Fourfold exchange anisotropy has recently been discovered in bilayers consisting of a ferromagnetic (FM) layer exchange-coupling with an epitaxial antiferromagnetic (AF) layer. The chemical ordering of the AF layer plays an important role in the interfacial exchange coupling of AF/FM bilayers. Herein, we studied the thickness dependence of the chemical ordering and fourfold exchange anisotropy of FeRh/CoFe bilayers before and after the AF–FM phase transition of FeRh. The chemical ordering parameter of FeRh obtained by x-ray diffraction increases with thickness due to the decrease in the proportion of low-order interfaces, which results in an increase in the magnetic phase transition temperature and a decrease in the phase transition width, residual magnetization in the AF state, and lattice constant. After the occurrence of the AF–FM phase transition, the fourfold exchange anisotropy observed in the CoFe layer by magneto-optical Kerr effect changes from the FeRh〈110〉 to 〈100〉 directions, indicating the orientation change in the cubic magnetocrystalline anisotropy of FeRh. The fourfold exchange anisotropy measured by ferromagnetic resonance continues to increase with the FeRh thickness, indicating an effective thickness by far larger than that of chemically disordered AF systems. The FeRh/FM exchange coupling is highly dependent on chemical ordering, not only on the low-order surface of a few nanometers but also on the high-order interior extending to a depth of tens of nanometers.
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spelling doaj-art-9bcf68dfba08402a8a827ec144e3e6072025-08-20T02:57:48ZengIOP PublishingNew Journal of Physics1367-26302025-01-0127303301410.1088/1367-2630/adbb12Thickness dependence of chemical ordering and fourfold exchange anisotropy in FeRh/CoFe bilayersJing Meng0Xiaoyan Zhu1Hui Zhang2https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2574-5087Dongmei Jiang3Yang Xu4https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4460-8013Wenjuan Cheng5Tian Shang6https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5916-0020Qingfeng Zhan7https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4614-9735Key Laboratory of Polar Materials and Devices (MOE), School of Physics and Electronic Science, East China Normal University , Shanghai 200241, People’s Republic of ChinaKey Laboratory of Polar Materials and Devices (MOE), School of Physics and Electronic Science, East China Normal University , Shanghai 200241, People’s Republic of ChinaKey Laboratory of Polar Materials and Devices (MOE), School of Physics and Electronic Science, East China Normal University , Shanghai 200241, People’s Republic of ChinaKey Laboratory of Polar Materials and Devices (MOE), School of Physics and Electronic Science, East China Normal University , Shanghai 200241, People’s Republic of ChinaKey Laboratory of Polar Materials and Devices (MOE), School of Physics and Electronic Science, East China Normal University , Shanghai 200241, People’s Republic of ChinaKey Laboratory of Polar Materials and Devices (MOE), School of Physics and Electronic Science, East China Normal University , Shanghai 200241, People’s Republic of ChinaKey Laboratory of Polar Materials and Devices (MOE), School of Physics and Electronic Science, East China Normal University , Shanghai 200241, People’s Republic of ChinaKey Laboratory of Polar Materials and Devices (MOE), School of Physics and Electronic Science, East China Normal University , Shanghai 200241, People’s Republic of ChinaFourfold exchange anisotropy has recently been discovered in bilayers consisting of a ferromagnetic (FM) layer exchange-coupling with an epitaxial antiferromagnetic (AF) layer. The chemical ordering of the AF layer plays an important role in the interfacial exchange coupling of AF/FM bilayers. Herein, we studied the thickness dependence of the chemical ordering and fourfold exchange anisotropy of FeRh/CoFe bilayers before and after the AF–FM phase transition of FeRh. The chemical ordering parameter of FeRh obtained by x-ray diffraction increases with thickness due to the decrease in the proportion of low-order interfaces, which results in an increase in the magnetic phase transition temperature and a decrease in the phase transition width, residual magnetization in the AF state, and lattice constant. After the occurrence of the AF–FM phase transition, the fourfold exchange anisotropy observed in the CoFe layer by magneto-optical Kerr effect changes from the FeRh〈110〉 to 〈100〉 directions, indicating the orientation change in the cubic magnetocrystalline anisotropy of FeRh. The fourfold exchange anisotropy measured by ferromagnetic resonance continues to increase with the FeRh thickness, indicating an effective thickness by far larger than that of chemically disordered AF systems. The FeRh/FM exchange coupling is highly dependent on chemical ordering, not only on the low-order surface of a few nanometers but also on the high-order interior extending to a depth of tens of nanometers.https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/adbb12FeRhchemical orderingexchange couplingthickness dependence
spellingShingle Jing Meng
Xiaoyan Zhu
Hui Zhang
Dongmei Jiang
Yang Xu
Wenjuan Cheng
Tian Shang
Qingfeng Zhan
Thickness dependence of chemical ordering and fourfold exchange anisotropy in FeRh/CoFe bilayers
New Journal of Physics
FeRh
chemical ordering
exchange coupling
thickness dependence
title Thickness dependence of chemical ordering and fourfold exchange anisotropy in FeRh/CoFe bilayers
title_full Thickness dependence of chemical ordering and fourfold exchange anisotropy in FeRh/CoFe bilayers
title_fullStr Thickness dependence of chemical ordering and fourfold exchange anisotropy in FeRh/CoFe bilayers
title_full_unstemmed Thickness dependence of chemical ordering and fourfold exchange anisotropy in FeRh/CoFe bilayers
title_short Thickness dependence of chemical ordering and fourfold exchange anisotropy in FeRh/CoFe bilayers
title_sort thickness dependence of chemical ordering and fourfold exchange anisotropy in ferh cofe bilayers
topic FeRh
chemical ordering
exchange coupling
thickness dependence
url https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/adbb12
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AT xiaoyanzhu thicknessdependenceofchemicalorderingandfourfoldexchangeanisotropyinferhcofebilayers
AT huizhang thicknessdependenceofchemicalorderingandfourfoldexchangeanisotropyinferhcofebilayers
AT dongmeijiang thicknessdependenceofchemicalorderingandfourfoldexchangeanisotropyinferhcofebilayers
AT yangxu thicknessdependenceofchemicalorderingandfourfoldexchangeanisotropyinferhcofebilayers
AT wenjuancheng thicknessdependenceofchemicalorderingandfourfoldexchangeanisotropyinferhcofebilayers
AT tianshang thicknessdependenceofchemicalorderingandfourfoldexchangeanisotropyinferhcofebilayers
AT qingfengzhan thicknessdependenceofchemicalorderingandfourfoldexchangeanisotropyinferhcofebilayers