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Journal of Applied Physics -- April 15, 1999 -- Volume 85, Issue 8, pp. 5892-5894

Biquadratic coupling in sputtered Fe/Cr/Fe still in need of a new mechanism

S. M. Rezende, C. Chesman, M. A. Lucena, M. C. de Moura, A. Azevedo, and F. M. de Aguiar

Departamento de Física, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Recife PE 50670-901, Brazil

S. S. P. Parkin

IBM Almaden Research Center, San Jose, California 95120-6099

The bilinear (J₁) and biquadratic (J₂) exchange coupling constants were measured in sputtered trilayers of (100) Fe(40 Å)/Cr(s)/Fe(40 Å) for several Cr spacer layer thicknesses in the range s=8–35 Å and as a function of temperature T, using magneto-optical Kerr effect magnetometry, Brillouin light scattering, and ferromagnetic resonance. In the samples in the range s=8–13 Å, corresponding to the first antiferromagnetic peak of J₁, J₂ follows J₁ with a room temperature ratio J₂/J₁0.1, while in the range 25–35 Å, corresponding to the second antiferromagnetic peak, J₂ also follows J₁ but with a much larger ratio J₂/J₁1. This result, as well as the temperature dependence of J₂ in all samples but the one with s=15 Å, cannot be explained by any of the intrinsic or extrinsic mechanisms that have been proposed for the origin of the biquadratic exchange coupling in Fe/Cr/Fe. ©1999 American Institute of Physics.

PII: S0021-8979(99)68008-2
doi:10.1063/1.369905
PACS: 75.70.Cn, 75.30.Et, 78.20.Ls, 78.35.+c, 75.30.Gw, 76.50.+g, 78.66.Bz, 75.50.Bb, 75.50.Ee        Additional Information

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Citing Articles

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