| Abstract: | The exchange coupling energy for two magnetized monolayers embedded symmetrically in a metal and polarized in an arbitrary direction has been investigated in contact interaction approximation. Since the model can be solved exactly in particular for free-electron case, the coupling energy contributed from both extended state electrons and bound state electrons is calculated rigorously. For weak interaction, it is found that the leading term in the power-series expansion of density of states can give a correct coupling energy compared with rigorous one while extended state electrons give a much larger coupling energy. Furthermore, the relevant problems such as phase shift, 90°coupling and lattice effects have been discussed; an asymptotic expression of the interlayer coupling has been derived in a different way and used to calculate the exchange energy between magnetic layers in copper with Fermi surface obtained from de Haas-van Alphen effect. |
