Parallel ferromagnetic resonance and spin-wave excitation in exchange-biased NiFe/IrMn bilayers

Ferromagnetic Resonance study of sputtered Ru(7 nm)/NiFe(tFM)/IrMn(6 nm)/Ru(5 nm) exchange-biased bilayers at X and Q-band microwave frequencies reveals the excitation of spin-wave and NiFe resonance modes. Angular variations of the in-plane resonance fields of spin-wave and NiFe resonance modes show the effect of the unidirectional anisotropy, which is about twice larger for the spin-wave mode due to spin pinning at the NiFe/IrMn interface. At Q-band frequency the angular variations of in-plane resonance fields also reveal the symmetry of a uniaxial anisotropy. A modified theoretical model which also includes the contribution of a rotatable anisotropy provides a good description of the experimental results.