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Journal of Applied Physics -- April 15, 1997 -- Volume 81, Issue 8, pp. 4350-4352

Role of interfaces in the exchange coupling of Fe/Cr/Fe(001) systems

B. Heinrich, J. F. Cochran, T. Monchesky, and K. Myrtle

Physics Department, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby BC V5A 1S6, Canada

Exchange coupling has been studied in Fe whisker/Cr/Fe(001) systems that were grown in a perfect layer by layer mode. The exchange coupling through Cr was found to be very sensitive to alloying at the Fe whisker/Cr(001) interface. It will be shown that the observed reversed phase of the short wavelength oscillations compared to those predicted by ab initio calculations can be caused by alloying at the Fe whisker/Cr(001) interface. In order to test this point, we have grown samples with the Cr/Fe(001) interface intentionally alloyed by codepositing the Cr and Fe atoms during the formation of the last Cr atomic layer. The strength of the exchange coupling has also been investigated in systems fabricated with heterogeneous spacers using bcc Cu(001) and fcc Ag(001). Cu and Ag layers have been inserted between the Cr spacer and the Fe(001) film. The strength of the antiferromagnetic coupling was found to be substantially increased due to the presence of Cu at the Cr/Fe(001) interface. It will be argued that the observed increase in the exchange coupling is caused by an increased asymmetry in spin dependent reflectivity at the Cr/Cu/Fe interface. ©1997 American Institute of Physics.

PII: S0021-8979(97)45908-X
DOI: 10.1063/1.364766
PACS: 75.70.Cn, 75.50.Ee, 75.30.Et        Additional Information

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Citing Articles

1. Fe /Cr interface magnetism: Correlation between hyperfine fields and magnetic moments
   V. M. Uzdin et al., Phys. Rev. B 63, 104407 (2001)
2. Exchange coupling through spin density wave Cr(001) using Fe whisker substrates
   B. Heinrich et al., J. Appl. Phys. 87, 5449 (2000)
3. Correlation of short-period oscillatory exchange coupling to nanometer-scale lateral interface structure in Fe/Cr/Fe(001)
   C. M. Schmidt et al., Phys. Rev. B 60, 4158 (1999)
4. Exchange coupling through spin-density waves in Cr(001) structures: Fe-whisker/Cr/Fe(001) studies
   B. Heinrich et al., Phys. Rev. B 59, 14520 (1999)
5. Oscillatory exchange coupling between iron layers separated by chromium
   A. T. Costa, Jr. et al., Phys. Rev. B 59, 11424 (1999)
6. Temperature- and rate-dependent RHEED oscillation studies of epitaxial Fe(001) on Cr(001)
   K. Theis-Bröhl et al., Phys. Rev. B 57, 4747 (1998)
7. Manipulation of the interlayer coupling by interface adlayers
   S. Mirbt et al., Phys. Rev. B 56, 287 (1997)

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