Magnetization reversal in antiferromagnetically coupled [Pt/CoFeB] _N1/Ru/[CoFeB/Pt]_N2 structures with perpendicular anisotropy

Magnetic interlayer coupling and magnetization switching characteristics have been investigated in synthetic antiferromagnetically coupled [Pt/CoFeB]_N1/Ru/[CoFeB/Pt]_N2 structures with perpendicular anisotropy. We observe an oscillatory behavior of the antiferromagnetic coupling with a period of 0.7 nm and a maximum coupling strength of 0.09 erg/cm². The coupling field is shown to decrease rapidly with the increase of repetition number and measurement temperature. Depending on the repetition numbers of the two multilayers, magnetic hysteresis loops may or may not display a reversal feature of the net magnetic moment. Samples with large N have a bow-tie loop shape due to the formation of multi-domains. The analysis of magnetic moments and exchange coupling fields show that there exists a ∼0.4 nm thick magnetic dead layer mostly at the CoFeB/Ru interface.