Exchange bias and giant magnetoresistance in spin valves with pico-scale antiferromagnetic layers

This work uses the giant magnetoresistance (GMR) of spin valves with pico-scale IrMn layers to determine the exchange biasing effects. The samples were prepared by magnetron sputtering. This paper focuses on the results for the 5 K measurements of the GMR, exchange field and coercive field. The coercive field and exchange field are measured as a function of IrMn thickness and it was found that for IrMn layers /spl les/12 /spl Aring/, the coercive field is larger than the exchange field.