Antiferromagnetic layer thickness dependences of exchange anisotropy for ( 0 0 1) oriented Mn89Pt11 ( t(AF) nm)/ Ni80Fe20 ( 5 nm) and Mn80Ir20 ( tAF nm)/ Ni80Fe20 ( 5 nm) were investigated. For Mn89Pt11/ NiFe, the exchange bias field appeared at t(AF) >= 5 nm. This critical thickness was found to be thicker than that of Mn80Ir20/ NiFe ( tAF 3 nm). The thickness dependence of exchange bias field agreed well with that of 1- fold Fourier amplitude estimated from in- plane torque curves. The large coercivity of about 100 Oe was found for Mn89Pt11/ NiFe at t(AF) 30nm compared to that of Mn80Ir20/ NiFe. The large coercivity in Mn89Pt11/ NiFe bilayers seems to result from the large 4- fold anisotropy in their torque curve. (c) 2006 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.