Flexible Exchange‐Biased Films with Superior Strain Stability
Xilai Bao, Huali Yang, Yali Xie, Jiabin Wang, Ri He, Pavlo Makushko, Lili Pan, Yubo Wang, Jinxia Chen, Mengting Zou, Ruoan Zou, Chenxu Liu, Lin Guo, Tao Zhu, Denys Makarov, Run‐Wei Li
Abstract
Abstract The exchange bias (EB) effect plays an undisputed role in the state‐of‐art spintronic devices, both rigid and flexible. However, the poor stability of EB under mechanical strain is detrimental to the construction of reliable flexible spintronic devices, which poses a great challenge for potential wearable applications. Here, it is revealed that the strain‐induced variation of EB field can be greatly suppressed by engineering flexible IrMn/[Co/Pt] 3 systems featured with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA). Particularly, in the multi‐stacks with strong PMA, poorly crystallized IrMn structure, and parallel alignment of the ferromagnetic (FM) moments with the biasing magnetic field applied during deposition, an exceptional good strain stability of EB among reported flexible systems is realized, which results from the stable perpendicular FM moments, the low strain transfer efficiency, and the eliminated strain‐driven training effect. These results provide an effective approach to develop flexible spintronic devices with superior strain stability, rendering them strong contenders in the realms of sensor and storage applications.