Abstract
A Mn-Ir alloy was investigated for antiferromagnetic layers used in spin-valve multilayers. In this study, Mn-Ir/Ni-Fe multilayers were formed by ion beam sputtering with various sputtering conditions. Exchange bias fields applied to the Ni-Fe layers were systematically investigated. When a mean diameter of the Mn-Ir antiferromagnetic layers was large, the exchange bias field applied to the Ni-Fe layers became high. The highest exchange bias field was about 15 kA/m in the [Hf (5nm)/Mn-Ir (15nm)/Ni-Fe (5nm)/Hf (5nm)/Si-substrate] multilayers.
