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Phys. Rev. B 44, 10389–10392 (1991)

[Issue 18 – 1 November 1991 ]

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Interface roughness, magnetic moments, and couplings in (A)_m/(Cr)_n (001) superlattices (A=Fe, Co, Ni)

Daniel Stoeffler and François Gautier

I.P.C.M.S.-GEMME, Université Louis Pasteur, 4 rue Blaise Pascal, 67070 Strasbourg, France

We use the real-space tight-binding method to determine the magnetic moments and the interlayer magnetic couplings (IMC) of (A)_m/Cr_n (A=Fe, Co, Ni) superlattices (SL) with perfect or diffuse A/Cr interfaces. For perfect SL, the IMC oscillate with a short period in agreement with experiment. For the same SL with an interface roughness coming from interfacial ordered compounds, the occurrence of interfacial frustrated Cr-Fe bonds and of Cr magnetic-moment instability can lead to a strong reduction of the Cr moments even if n is large (n~=30) and also to a damping and even the disappearance of the previous IMC oscillations. Therefore, the Cr spacer is not–as often assumed–a passive medium transmitting indirect RKKY-like interactions.

©1991 The American Physical Society

URL: http://link.aps.org/abstract/PRB/v44/p10389
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.44.10389
PACS: 75.70.-i, 75.30.Et, 75.20.Hr

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