Temperature-dependent crossover from ferro- to antiferromagnetic
interlayer alignment due to magnetic anisotropy energy

    P. Poulopoulos, U. Bovensiepen, M. Farle, and K. Baberschke 
    Institut für Experimentalphysik, Freie Universität Berlin, Arnimallee 14, D-14195 Berlin-Dahlem, Germany 

(Received 23 February 1998) 

The temperature dependence of the interlayer coupling of perpendicularly magnetized
Ni/Cu/Ni(001) trilayers is studied. A crossover in the alignment of the sublayer magnetizations
from parallel to antiparallel is observed with increasing temperature, although the interlayer
exchange is measured to be antiferromagnetic for all temperatures. The crossover is the result of
the competition between the antiferromagnetic interaction and the magnetic anisotropy energy.
This Ni/Cu/Ni trilayer with moderate exchange coupling serves as a model for magnetic
multilayers in which the interlayer coupling can be switched with temperature. ©1998 The
American Physical Society 

URL: http://publish.aps.org/abstract/PRB/v57/pR14036