THz radiation emitted by ferromagnetic/non-magnetic bilayers is a new emergent field in ultra-fast spin physics phenomena with a lot of potential for technological applications in the terahertz (THz) region of the electromagnetic spectrum. The role of antiferromagnetic layers in the THz emission process is being heavily investigated at the moment. In this work, we fabricate trilayers in the form of Co/CoO/Pt and Ni/NiO/Pt with the aim of studying the magnetic properties and probing the role of very thin antiferromagnetic interlayers like NiO and CoO in transporting ultrafast spin current. First, we reveal the static magnetic properties of the samples by using temperature-dependent Squid magnetometry and then we quantify the dynamic properties with the help of ferromagnetic resonance spectroscopy. We show magnetization reversal that has large exchange bias values and we extract enhanced damping values for the trilayers. THz time-domain spectroscopy examines the influence of the antiferromagnetic interlayer in the THz emission, showing that the NiO interlayer in particular is able to transport spin current.

Recent developments of lithographic techniques as well as improved chemical synthesis methods allow researchers to engineer novel nanostructured materials consisting of arrays of self-organized nanocrystals and multilayers grown as patterns on different substrates. In our case, the magnetic nanostructures consist either of multilayers directly deposited on pre-patterned substrates to form regular arrays of stripes and grooves or colloidal solutions of self-organized bimetallic Ag/Co nanoparticles on patterned and nonpatterned substrates. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) were employed in order to study the surface morphology of the 2D patterning arrays and the 3D nanostructures. The development of periodic arrays of magnetic patterns of micrometer size is strongly dependent on technological parameters such as: film, thickness, distances, size and shape of the patterns. Moreover, it is shown that the substrate morphology significantly affects the colloidal crystallization of magnetic nanoparticles and leads to different growth modes. This will ultimately affect the overall magnetic behavior of the nanostructures. Consequently, the combination of self-assembly and patterning allows for the controlled fabrication of the novel magnetic nanostructures at a macroscopic level and the study of fundamental aspects in magnetism such as quantum tunneling magnetization and magneto-transport properties along well-defined nanosized patterns. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.