Temperature-Dependent Studies of Coupled Fe55Pt45/Fe49Rh51 Thin Films

Equiatomic Fe50Rh50, with its highly unusual antiferromagnetic to ferromagnetic phase transition at approximately 370 K, provides the ability to create artificial multifunctional materials when combined with high-anisotropy magnetic thin films in an exchange-mediated structure. We investigate the temperature dependence of switching in Ll(0) Fe55Pt45/Fe49Rh51 bilayer thin films, where the Fe49Rh51 assists the switching of the Fe55Pt45 at modestly increased temperatures. A simple layered macrospin model is able to capture the switching characteristics of these films and shows good agreement with experimental results. Patterned Ll(0) Fe55Pt45/Fe(49)Rh(51)structures, measured using the anomalous Hall effect, show a similar temperature-dependent switching behavior, paving the way for reduced switching fields in future applications including heat-assisted bit-patterned-media recording and spintronic devices.