Experimental study demonstrates robust magnetic switching in synthetic antiferromagnets on polyimide, highlighting pathways for flexible spintronic memory devices.
Key Points
Fabricate and characterize perpendicularly magnetized synthetic antiferromagnetic thin films and nanowires on flexible polyimide substrates for flexible spintronics.
Deposited ultrathin CoFeB/Pt films and RKKY-coupled bilayers onto flexible polyimide substrates alongside silicon controls.
Characterized magnetic reversal mechanisms and bending tolerance down to a 350 µm radius of curvature using magnetic Kerr microscopy.
Patterned perpendicular synthetic antiferromagnetic thin films into 10 µm long nanowires with widths scaled down to 210 nm.
CoFeB single layers and RKKY-coupled bilayers exhibited sharp coercive switching and maintained magnetic integrity at bending radii down to 350 µm.
Magnetic Kerr imaging revealed that magnetization reversal on polyimide is dominated by a higher nucleation site density than on identical films grown on silicon.
Patterned synthetic antiferromagnetic nanowires down to 210 nm in width retained the robust magnetic switching behavior observed in continuous thin films.