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Physical Review B (Condensed Matter and Materials Physics) -- May 1, 1998 -- Volume 57, Issue 17 pp. 10284-10286

Magnetic phase diagram of interfacially rough Fe/Cr multilayers

R. S. Fishman

Solid State Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831-6032

(Received 3 September 1997)

Neutron-scattering measurements have revealed that the spin-density wave (SDW) inside the Cr spacer of Fe/Cr magnetic multilayers may be either commensurate (C) or incommensurate (I) depending on the temperature and Cr thickness N. We theoretically evaluate the magnetic phase diagram of Fe/Cr multilayers under the assumption that the nodes of the SDW lie at the Cr-Fe interface, as found by recent neutron-scattering measurements. While the C phase is never stable under this assumption, the paramagnetic to I transition temperature T_N(N) takes on a seesaw pattern as the SDW wave vector switches between different allowed values. ©1998 The American Physical Society

URL: http://link.aps.org/abstract/PRB/v57/p10284
PACS: 75.30.Fv, 75.30.Ds, 75.70.Cn        Additional Information

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Citing Articles

1. Ab initio local-spin-density study of oscillatory exchange coupling and spin density waves in Fe/Cr multilayers
   R. Hafner et al., J. Appl. Phys. 87, 5756 (2000)
2. Magnetic behavior of thin Cr layers sandwiched by Fe
   A. B. Klautau et al., Phys. Rev. B 60, 3421 (1999)
3. Collinear spin-density-wave ordering in Fe/Cr multilayers and wedges
   R. S. Fishman et al., Phys. Rev. B 59, 13849 (1999)
4. Helical and Incommensurate Spin-Density Waves in Fe/Cr Multilayers with Interfacial Steps
   R. S. Fishman, Phys. Rev. Lett. 81, 4979 (1998)