Abstract
Electric field control of the exchange bias effect across ferromagnet/antiferromagnet (FM/AF) interfaces has offered exciting potentials for low-energy-dissipation spintronics. In particular, the solid state magneto-ionic means is highly appealing as it may allow reconfigurable electronics by transforming the all-important FM/AF interfaces through ionic migration. In this work, we demonstrate an approach that combines the chemically induced magneto-ionic effect with the electric field driving of nitrogen in the Ta/Co0.7Fe0.3/MnN/Ta structure to electrically manipulate exchange bias. Upon field-cooling the heterostructure, ionic diffusion of nitrogen from MnN into the Ta layers occurs. A significant exchange bias of 618 Oe at 300 K and 1484 Oe at 10 K is observed, which can be further enhanced after a voltage conditioning by 5% and 19%, respectively. This enhancement can be reversed by voltage conditioning with an opposite polarity. Nitrogen migration within the MnN layer and into the Ta capping layer cause the enhancement in exchange bias, which is observed in polarized neutron reflectometry studies. These results demonstrate an effective nitrogen-ion based magneto-ionic manipulation of exchange bias in solidstate devices.
Original language | English (US) |
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Journal | Accepted by ACS Nano |
State | Published - Mar 27 2023 |
Bibliographical note
KAUST Repository Item: Exported on 2023-03-30Acknowledged KAUST grant number(s): OSR-2019- CRG8-4081
Acknowledgements: This work has been supported in part by SMART (2018-NE-2861), one of seven centers of nCORE, a Semiconductor Research Corporation program, sponsored by National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), by the NSF (ECCS-2151809), and by KAUST (OSR-2019- CRG8-4081). The acquisition of a Magnetic Property Measurements System (MPMS3), which was used in this investigation was supported by the NSF-MRI program (DMR-1828420). H.Z. acknowledges support from the U.S. Department of Commerce, NIST under financial assistance award 70NANB19H138 and 70NANB22H101. A.V.D. acknowledges support from the Material Genome Initiative funding allocated to NIST. Disclaimer: Certain commercial equipment, instruments, software, or materials are identified in this paper in order to specify the experimental procedure adequately. Such identifications are not intended to imply recommendation or endorsement by NIST, nor it is intended to imply that the materials or equipment identified are necessarily the best available for the purpose.