Orientation dependence of coupling and interlayer moments in Fe/Cr multilayers (abstract)

Abstract

The relationship between interlayer coupling and interlayer d-electron magnetic moments is studied using magnetometry and x-ray magnetic circular dichroism in Fe/Cr multilayers. Multilayers are simultaneously prepared with growth axes along different crystallographic orientations to determine the orientation dependence of these effects. It is found that the oscillatory exchange coupling is orientation dependent in the low thickness regime but surprisingly, the induced Cr d-electron magnetic moments are not orientation dependent. Similar results are found in the Fe/V multilayer system. This is evidence for the importance of sp band derived coupling in the low thickness regime.