Phys. Rev. B 46, 10847-10853 (1992)

                                         [Issue 17 - November 1992 ]

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Finite-size effects on spin configurations in antiferromagnetically coupled multilayers

     F. C. Nörtemann, R. L. Stamps, A. S. Carriço, and R. E. Camley 
     Department of Physics, University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, Colorado Springs, Colorado 80933-7150

Received 2 March 1992

Nonuniform canting states are found for multilayers of a finite size that are constructed from ferromagnetic films which are
antiferromagnetically coupled. Our results are applicable to a wide variety of experimentally realizable systems such as Fe/Cr and
Co/Ru. We find that at low fields, a twist in the ground-state configuration of the spins reduces the net Zeeman energy and is
energetically favorable to the uniform canted state which has previously been assumed by most authors. At higher fields, the character
of this twist changes and eventually leads to a state that is fully aligned along the direction of the applied magnetic field. A numerical
self-consistent mean-field model is used to examine the properties of these states and a variational method is developed in order to
obtain analytic expressions for the lengths and magnitudes of these twists. The deviations from the uniform spin-flop state at both high
and low fields can be quite large and involve the entire sample.

©1992 The American Physical Society

URL: http://publish.aps.org/abstract/PRB/v46/p10847
PACS: 75.70.Fr, 75.50.Rr, 75.30.Pd, 75.30.Kz