Texture and magnetic properties of exchange bias systems

We report on the magnetic and structural properties of IrMn/CoFe exchange bias systems deposited onto a dual seed layer of NiCr(X)/Ru(5 nm), with X=2, 6, and 20 nm. Samples with the structure NiCr (Xnm)/IrMn (7 nm)/CoFe (3 nm)/Ta (10 nm) with X=2, 6, and 20 nm were prepared by dc sputtering for magnetic characterization. A second set of samples with structure NiCr (Xnm)/IrMn (10 nm) with X=2, 6, and 20 nm were deposited onto TEM grids for structural characterization by TEM. A method of manipulating of the TEM grid to allow a qualitative analysis of the in-plane texture of the samples is described and used to analyze the microstructure of these samples. The microstructure and particularly the texture are correlated with the anisotropy constant (K(AF)) of the antiferromagnet (AF) layer, with an optimum NiCr seed layer of 6 nm to give a maximum value of K(AF) of 1.2x10(7) ergs/cc. (C) 2010 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3340513]