Interlayer exchange coupling: Preasymptotic corrections

In the asymptotic limit, the interlayer exchange coupling decays as D^-2, where D is the spacer thickness. A systematic procedure for calculating the preasymptotic corrections, i.e., the terms of order D^-n with ,is presented. The temperature dependence of the preasymptotic corrections is calculated. The results are used to discuss the preasymptotic corrections for the Co/Cu/Co(001) system. Received 7 January 1999     

Interlayer exchange coupling in iron/silicon nanostructures

A superexchange mechanism is considered for the interlayer exchange coupling in Fe/Si nanostructures. It is assumed that the most important role in this mechanism is played by iron-silicon interfaces, in whose immediate vicinity the contact-induced ferromagnetic phase of body-centered iron monosilicide forms and spin-polarized interface states arise. The magnetic coupling between iron layers is accomplished by means of the interaction of interface states through the normal-semiconductor spacer layer and involves both intraband and interband processes. The nonmonotonic character of the dependence of the interband exchange coupling on the spacer thickness and composition (the occurrence of a maximu, the change in shape, the possible sign reversal of the bilinear component) is caused by competition between the ferro-and antiferromagnetic super-exchange components and by the complex character of the spacer electronic spectrum (in particular, by the occurrence of several equivalent extrema in the semiconductor bands). This model qualitatively reproduces the main features of the mechanism of interlayer exchange coupling in real Fe/Si nanostructures.     

Interlayer magnetic coupling in multilayer magnetic Fe/Cr/Fe systems

The interlayer magnetic coupling of iron layers as a function of the chromium spacer thickness and temperature has been studied for three-layer epitaxial Fe/Cr/Fe films by the methods of Kerr magnetometry and Mandelstam-Brillouin scattering. The results obtained indicate that the short-period component of the interlayer exchange is related to the spin density wave in the chromium spacer.     

Dynamic exchange coupling in magnetic bilayers

A long-range dynamic interaction between ferromagnetic films separated by normal-metal spacers is reported, which is communicated by nonequilibrium spin currents. It is measured by ferromagnetic resonance and explained by an adiabatic spin-pump theory. In such a resonance the spin-pump mechanism of spatially separated magnetic moments leads to an appreciable increase in the resonant linewidth when the resonance fields are well apart, and results in a dramatic linewidth narrowing when the resonant fields approach each other.     

Interlayer exchange coupling: an in situ investigation via ferromagnetic resonance

A new absolute way to deduce the interlayer exchange coupling via in situ ferromagnetic resonance measurements in Cu/Ni/Cu/Ni/Cu(0 0 1) films is presented. The signal of the first magnetic layer before and after the deposition of the second one is compared and the exchange coupling is extracted from the shift of the resonance position in the coupled system with respect to the Cu/Ni bilayer.     

Exchange coupling in magnetic phase-separated GeMn alloys

The mechanism of the appearance of the magnetic order is considered for the GeMn alloys inside which ferromagnetic “nanocolumns” highly enriched with manganese are formed during the process of low-temperature growth. To describe this ordering, a model of effective exchange between ferromagnetic strings arranged inside a highly compensated nondegenerate semiconductor is suggested.     

Theory of exchange coupling in disordered magnetic multilayers

We consider a mechamism of exchange coupling based on interaction between electrons in a nonmagnetic layer. Depending on the ratio of inverse time of diffusion of electrons between ferromagnetic layers and ferromagnetic splitting of conducting electrons, this mechanism describes the transition from ferromagnetic to noncollinear ordering of magnetizations of ferromagnetic layers.     

Temperature-induced reversal of magnetic interlayer exchange coupling

For epitaxial trilayers of the magnetic rare-earth metals Gd and Tb, exchange coupled through a nonmagnetic Y spacer layer, element-specific hysteresis loops were recorded by the x-ray magneto-optical Kerr effect at the rare-earth M5 thresholds. This allowed us to quantitatively determine the strength of interlayer exchange coupling (IEC). In addition to the expected oscillatory behavior as a function of spacer-layer thickness dY, a temperature-induced sign reversal of IEC was observed for constant dY, arising from magnetization-dependent electron reflectivities at the magnetic interfaces.     

Anisotropy of the oscillatory exchange coupling in magnetic multilayers

We discuss the influence of quantum-well effect on the anisotropy and oscillation period of the RKKY interaction in magnetic multilayers. Taking into account local strains we have calculated the magnetoelastic contribution to the effective coupling.     

Heat-induced effective exchange coupling in magnetic multilayers with semiconductors

Two ferromagnetic films separated by an amorphous semiconducting spacer layer are exchange coupled across the spacer. The coupling is reversibly temperature dependent with a positive temperature coefficient making such layered systems a 2-D realization of the concept of heat-induced magnetism. By studying ferromagentic Fe layers separated by amorphous Si, Ge, or ZnSe layers we explore the possibilities to generate such an effective exchange coupling and address the question of the mechanism responsible for it.     

Extracting intergranular exchange coupling in perpendicular magnetic recording media

A micromagnetic numerical technique has been used to demonstrate how intergranular exchange coupling and intrinsic anisotropy field dispersion can be extracted from measuring two types of M-H curves. A realistic grain configuration formed by planar Voronoi cells is used to simulate perpendicular magnetic media. This technique effectively separates the effects of intergranular exchange coupling and anisotropy dispersion by finding their correlation to differentiated M-H curves with different initial magnetization states, even in the presence of thermal fluctuation. The validity of this method is investigated with a series of intergranular exchange couplings and anisotropy dispersions for different media thickness. A relationship between the auto-correlation function of an ac-erased sample and dispersion of the exchange interaction is demonstrated. Utilizing magnetization auto-correlation functions, the magnetic intergranular exchange coupling statistics show a correlation with the auto-correlation function shape in terms of zero-cross and undershoot values.     

Interlayer magnetic coupling interactions of two ferromagnetic layers by spin polarized tunneling

Magnetic interactions involving ferromagnetic layers separated by an insulating barrier have been studied experimentally on a fully epitaxial hard-soft magnetic tunnel junction: Fe/MgO/Fe/Co. For a barrier thickness below 1 nm, a clear antiferromagnetic interaction is observed. Moreover, when reducing the MgO thickness from 1 to 0.5 nm, the coupling strength increases up to J=-0.26 erg.cm(-2). This behavior, well fitted by theoretical models, provides an unambiguous signature of the interlayer exchange coupling by spin-polarized quantum tunneling.