Anomalous magnetization reversal mechanism in unbiased Fe/FeF2 investigated by means of the magneto-optic Kerr effect

The coercive fields of Fe/FeF2(1 1 0) bilayers above the Néel temperature of FeF2 have been studied by means of the magneto-optic Kerr effect (MOKE). To distinguish the anisotropies, the longitudinal as well as the transverse magnetization components were measured and simulated. The latter allow for a conclusion about the different magnetization reversal mechanisms above and below the Néel temperature of FeF2, i.e. for unbiased and exchange-biased bilayers, leading to a modified description of the magnetization reversal processes at high temperatures with explicitly forbidden local energy minima.