P2NG.12- Spintronic materials for hydrogen sensing

Event
17th International Meeting on Chemical Sensors - IMCS 2018
2018-07-15 - 2018-07-19
Vienna, Austria
Chapter
P-2 - Nanomaterials for Gas Sensing
Author(s)
W. Lin, C. Hsu, P. Chang, Y. Chen, C. Liu - Department of Physics, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei (Taiwan), C. Wu, H. Yen - Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Taipei (Taiwan)
Pages
866 - 867
DOI
10.5162/IMCS2018/P2NG.12
ISBN
978-3-9816876-9-9
Price
free

Abstract

[Pd/Fe]2 multilayers were deposited on a flat MgO(001) substrate to study the effect of hydrogen on magnetic interlayer coupling. In an Fe/Pd/Fe interlayer coupled system, complex magnetic hysteresis behavior, including single, double, and triple loops, were measured as a function of the azimuthal angle ( ) in a longitudinal and transverse direction. It was hypothesized that with a combination of a 2-fold magnetic anisotropy energy in the bottom-Fe and a 4-fold MAE in the top-Fe, the complex magneto-optical Kerr effect hysteresis behavior could be clearly explained. Two well-split hysteresis loops with Kerr remanence of almost zero were measured by choosing a suitable Pd thickness and applying the magnetic field perpendicular to the easy axis of the bottom-Fe. The split double loops originated from the 90°-rotation of the top-Fe moment. On exposure to a hydrogen gas atmosphere, the separation of the two minor loops increased, indicating that Pd-hydride formation enhanced the ferromagnetic coupling between the two Fe layers. On the basis of these observations, we proposed that, by applying a suitable constant magnetic field, the top-Fe moment could undergo reversible 90°-rotation following hydrogen exposure. The results suggest that the Pd space layer used for mediating the magnetic interlayer coupling is sensitive to hydrogen, and therefore, the [Fe/Pd]n multilayer system can function as a giant magnetoresistance-type sensor suitable for hydrogen gas.

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