Exchange Bias and Vertical Magnetic Shift on Co−CoO Thin Films

Abstract

Abstract This work reports the results of an experimental study on Si(001)/Au(111)/Co/CoO/ZrO 2 elaborated by electron beam evaporation. The chemical composition of the oxidized state of cobalt and zirconium cover layers derived from metallic deposition is confirmed by X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Magnetic properties are probed by magneto‐optical Kerr effect (MOKE). The polar magneto‐optic Kerr effect (PMOKE) measurements reveal that the cooling at 77 K under an applied magnetic field induces an exchange coupling which is manifested by a positive exchange bias (EB) field accompanied by a negative vertical shift of the magnetization. In longitudinal magneto‐optical Kerr effect (LMOKE), the exchange coupling depends on the orientation of the applied measuring magnetic field. It is found that both the exchange field shift rate h shift and the vertical shift rate in magnetization m shift exhibit a peak at 45° between the applied field and the [100] in‐plane direction which may be associated with the presence of uncompensated pinned spins at the Co−CoO interface.