Monte Carlo investigation of how interfacial magnetic couplings affect blocking temperature distributions in exchange bias bilayers

Abstract

Exchange bias in ferromagnetic (F)/antiferromagnetic (AF) bilayers is a function of both the bulk properties of the AF layer and the interfacial properties determining the effective interfacial couplings between the F and AF layers. The distinction between bulk and interface can be clearly revealed in blocking temperature distributions, where AF grain volume distribution results in a high-temperature peak while disordered interfacial magnetic phases produce a low-temperature contribution. However, the coupling conditions producing such bimodal blocking temperature distributions remain to be specified. In this article, we use a granular model which accounts for the disordered interfacial phases by considering small magnetic grains (SGs) with weaker anisotropy and coupling with the F grains at the F/AF interface. The SG are included in the AF material. The coupling conditions producing bimodal blocking temperature distributions were determined. Then, using Monte Carlo simulations, these conditions were validated and the effect of interfacial F-SG coupling on distributions was investigated. We next determined how the ratio between F-SG and F-AF couplings could be used to estimate the surface coverage of the disordered interfacial phases from experimental data.