Patent ID: 7106559

Claim:
An exchange coupling film comprising an antiferromagnetic layer and a ferromagnetic layer in contact with the antiferromagnetic layer, an exchange coupling magnetic field generated at the interface between the antiferromagnetic layer and the ferromagnetic layer magnetizing the ferromagnetic layer in a particular direction, wherein diffraction spots corresponding to reciprocal lattice points indicative of crystal planes of the antiferromagnetic layer and the ferromagnetic layer appear in transmission electron beam diffraction diagrams of the antiferromagnetic layer and the ferromagnetic layer obtained using an electron beam in a direction perpendicular to the interface, and wherein an imaginary line in the diffraction diagram of the antiferromagnetic layer connecting a beam origin and a diffraction spot given a particular label and an imaginary line in the diffraction diagram of the ferromagnetic layer connecting the beam origin and a diffraction spot given the same label are not coincident with each other.