Domain analysis in epitaxial iron-aluminum and iron-gold sandwiches with oscillatory exchange

Author

McCord, Jeffery ; Hubert, Alex ; Schafer, R. ; Fuss, Achim ; Grünberg, Peter

Author_Institution

Inst. fuer Werkstoffwiss, Erlangen-Nurnberg Univ., Germany

Volume

29

Issue

6

fYear

1993

fDate

11/1/1993 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

2735

Lastpage

2737

Abstract

Epitaxially grown iron-iron sandwiches with wedge-shaped gold and aluminum interlayers are investigated by Kerr microscopy. While in the Fe-Au-Fe sample an oscillatory exchange (which appears, however, of a rather weak and irregular nature) interaction is confirmed, only one transition from ferromagnetic to 90°-coupling is found in the Fe-Al-Fe sample. For Al thickness >15 Å, the domains assume an irregular character, indicating an essentially uncoupled nature. This finding is confirmed by a new technique based on the magnetooptical Voigt effect observed at perpendicular incidence

Keywords

Kerr magneto-optical effect; aluminium; exchange interactions (electron); ferromagnetic properties of substances; gold; iron; magnetic domains; magnetic epitaxial layers; magnetic multilayers; magneto-optical effects; Fe-Al sandwiches; Fe-Au sandwiches; Kerr microscopy; antiferromagnetic coupling; domain analysis; epitaxial sandwiches; ferromagnetic coupling; magnetic multilayers; magnetooptical Voigt effect; oscillatory exchange; perpendicular incidence; wedge-shaped interlayers; Aluminum; Antiferromagnetic materials; Artificial intelligence; Couplings; Elementary particle exchange interactions; Gold; Magnetic analysis; Magnetic domains; Magnetization; Magnetooptic effects;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Magnetics, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9464

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/20.280927

Filename

280927