Perpendicularly magnetized CoFeB multilayers with tunable interlayer exchange for synthetic ferrimagnets

Highlights: • MgO/CoFeB/Ta/CoFeB/MgO multilayers as synthetic ferrimagnets. • Comprehensive characterization by measurement of static and dynamic properties. • Different pinning for domain walls with different alignment of the individual layers. - Abstract: A study of the multilayer system MgO/CoFeB(1.1 nm)/Ta(t)/CoFeB(0.8 nm)/MgO is presented, where the two CoFeB layers are separated by a Ta interlayer of varying thickness t. The magnetization properties deduced from complementary techniques such as superconducting quantum interference magnetometry, ferromagnetic resonance frequency measurements and Brillouin light scattering spectroscopy can be tuned by changing the Ta thickness between t = 0.25 nm, 0.5 nm and 0.75 nm. For t = 0.5 nm, a ferromagnetic coupling is observed, whereas for t = 0.75 nm, the antiferromagnetic coupling needed to construct a synthetic ferrimagnet is realized. In the latter case, the shape of magnetic domain walls between two ferrimagnetic alignments or between a ferro- and a ferrimagnetic alignment is very different. This behavior can be interpreted as a result of the change in dipolar as well as interlayer exchange energy and domain wall pinning, which is an important conclusion for the realization of data storage devices based on synthetic ferri- and antiferromagnets.