Negative remanence in exchange coupled Co/Rh/Co sandwich structures: Experiment and model (abstract) : The 41st annual conference on magnetism and magnetic materials

1089-7550

AIP Digital Archive

Physics

It is shown within a simple micromagnetic model calculation that novel magnetic hysteresis behavior including the unusual phenomenon of negative remanence can occur in asymmetric exchange coupled bi- and multilayer films. The latter denotes a magnetization state opposite to the field direction in which the sample was premagnetized. We have observed such effects in polar Kerr hysteresis measurements from perpendicularly oriented sandwich structures grown on Pt(111) buffers, e.g., Co(0.8 nm)/Rh(0.9 nm)/Co(0.8 nm). The model minimizes the total magnetic energy as function of the applied field and angles phi1 and phi2 of the two layers with respect to the film normal (easy) direction. The energy includes besides external field energy, a demagnetization term and interlayer exchange and anisotropy contributions. The general shape of the experimentally observed hysteresis loops can be reproduced, if one assumes slight asymmetries in the magnetic properties of the ferromagnetic layers. These could be caused by unequal thicknesses and/or local roughnesses which would alter the interfacial anisotropy contributions. © 1997 American Institute of Physics.

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