Influence of Structural and Compositional Factors on the Realization of the Exchange-Bias Effect in (Cr–Mn)/Fe20Ni80 Films

The influence of a number of physical factors on the structural and hysteresis properties of multilayer films (Cr–Mn)/FeNi was studied. According to indirect signs, the presence of antiferromagnetism in Cr–Mn layers with a Mn content of 20–40 at % has been established. It is shown that the exchange-bias effect in such structures can be observed only when the thickness of the antiferromagnetic layer exceeds 40 nm. The initial reason for the low "fixing" properties of the Cr–Mn layer is its weak magnetic anisotropy, which is superimposed by instability in the microstructure reproduction. The use of substrate heating during deposition of films increased the reproducibility of the microstructure parameters and the hysteresis characteristics, but led to weakening of the exchange-bias effect apparently due to changes in the structure and composition of the interlayer interface.