Magnetic Reversal Mechanisms in Spin Valves with Pico-Scale Antiferromagnetic Layers

Giant magnetoresistance (GMR) studies at 5K have verified the presence of exchange bias in spin valves with AFM layers as thin at 0.4 nm. To probe the stability of such systems at these threshold values, a comparable spin valve with AFM thickness 0.4 nm is studied using polarized neutron reflectometry (PNR) and GMR techniques.