Effect of energetic particle bombardment during sputter deposition on the properties of exchange-biased spin-valve multilayers

Abstract

The effect of energetic particle bombardment during sputter deposition on the physical (magnetoresistance and interlayer coupling) and microstructural (roughness and interface thickness) properties of exchange-biased spin-valve multilayers is investigated. An increasing pressure leads, through enhanced stopping of energetic particles by collisions with the background gas, to a decrease of the interfacial intermixing by collisions during growth, and to a more rough, void-rich structure. These microstructural changes lead to an increase of the transmissivity of the interfaces for conduction electrons, as well as to an increase of the ferromagnetic interlayer coupling with increasing pressure.