Coupling between ferromagnetic electrodes through ZnS barrier

Magnetization measurements are performed on CoFe2/ZnS/CoFe2/NiFe structures to investigate the interactions between ferromagnetic electrodes through the ZnS barrier. Negative shifts observed in magnetization minor loops indicate a ferromagnetic interaction. The influence of the hard-layer deposition temperature on this shift and on the hard-layer coercive field is considered. The amplitude of the shift decreases as the thickness of the ZnS layer increases. The decrease in this shift at low temperature confirms the presence of an indirect exchange coupling between the magnetic electrodes mediated by spin-polarized quantum tunneling through the ZnS layer.