Oscillatory Thickness Dependence of Magnetic Moments and interface-induced Changes of the Exchange Coupling in Co/Cu and Co-Ni/Cu Multilayers

TL;DR

This study uses first-principles calculations to explore how magnetic moments and exchange coupling in Co/Cu and Co-Ni/Cu multilayers oscillate with spacer thickness and are affected by interface properties.

Contribution

It reveals the oscillatory behavior of magnetic moments and exchange coupling as functions of spacer thickness and interface characteristics in multilayer systems.

Findings

Exchange coupling amplitude and phase are sensitive to interface details.

Magnetic moments oscillate with spacer thickness similarly to exchange coupling.

Interface-induced changes significantly affect magnetic properties.

Abstract

We perform first-principles calculations for the three multilayer systems (100)-Co_1/Cu_n, -NiCo_2Ni/Cu_n and -Co_4/Cu_n, and find from a comparison x of the results for system 2 and 3 that amplitude and phase of the exchange coupling are sensitive to the magnetic-slab/nonmagnetic-spacer interface. Moreover, we observe that for the system 1 and 2 the averaged magnetic moment of the magnetic slab oscillates with the spacer thickness similarly as the exchange coupling.