Towards an Ab Initio Description of the Exchange Bias in Spin-Valve Systems

Abstract

By considering collinear and non-collinear magnetic configurations, the interlayer exchange energy can be viewed as a continuous energy parameter k that can directly be correlated with the magnetoresistance. It was shown [Weinberger, P. (2002). Exchange bias due to configurational magnetic rearrangements. Phys . Rev . B , 65 , 014430] for the spin-valve system Co(111)/Co 6 /(CoO) n /Co 6 /Cu 6 /Co 6 /Co(111), n = 6,12, that the exchange bias refers to that value of k below which the magnetoresistance remains zero. Above this value a gradual change in the magnetoresistance is observed when considering non-collinear magnetic configurations.

Keywords:

• Spin-valve
• Magnetoresistance
• Fm
• Afm