Issues $\rightarrow$ Volume 27, Issue 4 (2026)

Mn-Based Antiferromagnetic Thin Films: Diffusion-Controlled Ordering, Thermal Stability, and Exchange Coupling in Multilayer Systems

VERBYTSKA T.I. and MAKOGON Yu.M.

National Technical University of Ukraine ‘Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute’, 37 Beresteiskyi Ave., UA-03056 Kyiv, Ukraine

Received / final version: 16.09.2026 / 21.09.2026 Download PDF logo PDF

Abstract
This review examines the role of thin-film antiferromagnetic (AFM) materials and AFM/FM compositions in the development of modern antiferromagnetic-spintronics technologies. Information regarding the crystalline and electronic structures, as well as the magnetic ordering of L10- and L12-type Mn–Me intermetallic phases, is systematized. The specific features of forming Mn-containing AFM films via magnetron sputtering and molecular-beam epitaxy are described, along with the influence of various deposition parameters on microstructure and magnetic properties. The problems related to diffusion, phase metastability, and microstructure control in thin films of Mn-based (Mn–Pd, Mn–Pt, Mn–Ir) systems are analysed from the perspectives of lattice symmetry, magnetic configuration, and phase stability. The properties of bulk materials and thin films are compared. Mechanisms of exchange bias in Mn-based AFM/FM-multilayer structures are examined, and the roles of interfaces, the degree of AFM-layer ordering, and defects are analysed. Key challenges and prospects regarding the integration of Mn-based AFM films into spintronic devices are summarized. Promising directions for future research, such as the control of spin–orbit torques, spin pumping, the spin Hall effect, and the spin Seebeck effect, are being formulated.

Keywords: antiferromagnets, ferromagnets, Mn-based AFM thin films, Néel’s temperature, exchange bias, thermal stability, spintronics.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.15407/ufm.27.04.***

Citation: T.I. Verbytska and Yu.M. Makogon, Mn-Based Antiferromagnetic Thin Films: Diffusion-Controlled Ordering, Thermal Stability, and Exchange Coupling in Multilayer Systems, Progress in Physics of Metals, 27, No. 4: ***–*** (2026)

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