caa a22 4500 53009875X 20181217030326.0 cr unu---uuuuu 181026e20140328xx s 000 0 eng 10.3929/ethz-b-000082814 doi 10.1038/srep04508 doi (ETHRESEARCH)oai:www.research-collection.ethz.ch:20.500.11850/82814 Role of interface coupling inhomogeneity in domain evolution in exchange bias [Elektronische Daten] [Andrea Benassi, Miguel A. Marioni, Daniele Passerone, Hans J. Hug] Sci Rep Open access ethresearch Models of exchange-bias in thin films have been able to describe various aspects of this technologically relevant effect. Through appropriate choices of free parameters the modelled hysteresis loops adequately match experiment, and typical domain structures can be simulated. However, the use of these parameters, notably the coupling strength between the systems' ferromagnetic (F) and antiferromagnetic (AF) layers, obscures conclusions about their influence on the magnetization reversal processes. Here we develop a 2D phase-field model of the magnetization process in exchange-biased CoO/(Co/Pt)×n that incorporates the 10 nm-resolved measured local biasing characteristics of the antiferromagnet. Just three interrelated parameters set to measured physical quantities of the ferromagnet and the measured density of uncompensated spins thus suffice to match the experiment in microscopic and macroscopic detail. We use the model to study changes in bias and coercivity caused by different distributions of pinned uncompensated spins of the antiferromagnet, in application-relevant situations where domain wall motion dominates the ferromagnetic reversal. We show the excess coercivity can arise solely from inhomogeneity in the density of biasing- and anti-biasing pinned uncompensated spins in the antiferromagnet. Counter to conventional wisdom, irreversible processes in the latter are not essential. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0 ethresearch Surfaces, interfaces and thin films ethresearch Ferromagnetism ethresearch Magnetic properties and materials ethresearch Scanning probe microscopy ethresearch Benassi Andrea joint author Marioni Miguel A. joint author Passerone Daniele joint author Hug Hans J. joint author Scientific Reports London : Nature Publishing Group 4, p. 4508 2045-2322 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11850/82814 text/html WWW-Backlink auf das Repository (Open access) 1 Journal Article ethresearch ETHRESEARCH 856 40 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11850/82814 text/html WWW-Backlink auf das Repository (Open access) ETHRESEARCH 700 1- Benassi Andrea joint author ETHRESEARCH 700 1- Marioni Miguel A. joint author ETHRESEARCH 700 1- Passerone Daniele joint author ETHRESEARCH 700 1- Hug Hans J. joint author ETHRESEARCH 773 0- Scientific Reports London : Nature Publishing Group 4, p. 4508 2045-2322 BK010053 XK010053 XK010000 ETHRESEARCH ETHRESEARCH ETHRESEARCH Journal Article Open access