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A. Hirohata, T. Huminiuc, J. Sinclair, H. Wu, M. Samiepour, G. Vallejo-Fernandez, K. O´Grady, J. Balluf, M. Meinert, G. Reiss, E. Simon, S. Khmelevskyi, L. Szunyogh, R. Diaz, U. Nowak, T. Tsuchiya, T. Sugiyama, T. Kubota, K. Takanashi, N. Inami, K. Ono:
"Development of antiferromagnetic Heusler alloys for the replacement of iridium as a critically raw material";
Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics, 50 (2017), 4430011 - 44300114.

As a platinum group metal, iridium (Ir) is the scarcest element on the earth but it has been
widely used as an antiferromagnetic layer in magnetic recording, crucibles and spark plugs due
to its high melting point. In magnetic recording, antiferromagnetic layers have been used to pin
its neighbouring ferromagnetic layer in a spin-valve read head in a hard disk drive for example.
Recently, antiferromagnetic layers have also been found to induce a spin-polarised electrical
current. In these devices, the most commonly used antiferromagnet is an Ir-Mn alloy because
of its corrosion resistance and the reliable magnetic pinning of adjacent ferromagnetic layers.
It is therefore crucial to explore new antiferromagnetic materials without critical raw materials.
In this review, recent research on new antiferromagnetic Heusler alloys and their exchange
interactions along the plane normal is discussed. These new antiferromagnets are characterised
by very sensitive magnetic and electrical measurement techniques recently developed to determine their characteristic temperatures together with atomic structural analysis. Mn-based
alloys and compounds are found to be most promising based on their robustness against atomic
disordering and large pinning strength up to 1.4 kOe, which is comparable with that for Ir-Mn.
The search for new antiferromagnetic films and their characterisation are useful for further
miniaturisation and development of spintronic devices in a sustainable manner.

critical raw materials, platinum group metals, iridium replacement, antiferromagnetic Heusler alloys