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Role of structural defects on exchange bias in the epitaxial CoO/Co system

M. R . Ghadimi, B. Beschoten, G. Güntherodt

cond-mat.mtrl-sciarXiv:cond-mat/0509003

Abstract

We have studied the influence of non-magnetic defects throughout the antiferromagnet Co1-yO on the exchange bias (EB) in epitaxially grown Co1-yO/Co bilayers. These defects are either substitutional or structural (twin boundaries and surface morphology) which both lead to an increase of the EB-field. We find a dominance of twin boundaries over surface morphology (roughness) in enhancing EB which is consistent with the domain state model for exchange bias. In contrast, the crystal orientation of the Co1-yO layer does not show a significant effect on the EB in this system.

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