Formation of Unidirectional Magnetic Anisotropy in a Spin Valve Containing a Dysprosium Layer

The dependence of the Neel temperature on the thickness of the dysprosium layer has been studied. It is shown that the temperature range within which the paramagnetic–antiferromagnetic phase transition takes place depends on the microstructure and thickness of the dysprosium layer. Spin valves based on a CoFe alloy with dysprosium as an antiferromagnetic layer are manufactured via magnetron sputtering. It is shown that unidirectional anisotropy forms in the CoFe/Dy interface. The direction of the exchange bias field depends on the direction of the magnetic moment of the CoFe layer in the formation of exchange coupling.