Structural and magnetic properties of Pt/Co/Mn-based multilayers

Abstract

Magnetic multilayers are a rich class of material systems with numerous highly tunable physical parameters that determine both their magnetic and electronic properties. Here, we present a comprehensive experimental study of the system Pt/Co/Mn, which extends the group of $\mathrm{Pt}/\mathrm{Co}/X$ ($X=$ metal) multilayers that have been investigated thus far. We demonstrate that an increasing Co layer thickness changes the magnetic anisotropy from out of plane to in plane, whereas the deposition of thicker Mn layers leads to a decrease in the saturation magnetization. Temperature-dependent magnetometry measurements reinforce the hypothesis of antiferromagnetic coupling at the Co/Mn interfaces being responsible for the observed Mn thickness dependence of the magnetization reversal. Moreover, magneto-optical imaging experiments indicate systematic changes in magnetic domain patterns as a function of the Co and Mn layer thickness, suggesting the existence of bubblelike domains---potentially even magnetic skyrmions---in the case of sufficiently thick Mn layers, which are expected to contribute to a sizable Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction in the multilayer stacks. We identify Pt/Co/Mn as a highly complex multilayer system with strong potential for further fundamental studies and possible applications.