Orientational dependence of the oscillatory exchange interaction in Co/Cu/Co

M. T. Johnson; R. Coehoorn; J. J. de Vries; N. W. E. McGee; J. aan de Stegge; P. J. H. Bloemen

doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.69.969

Orientational dependence of the oscillatory exchange interaction in Co/Cu/Co

M. T. Johnson, R. Coehoorn, J. J. de Vries, N. W. E. McGee, J. aan de Stegge, and P. J. H. Bloemen

Phys. Rev. Lett. 69, 969 – Published 10 August 1992

Abstract

A strong oscillatory exchange coupling has been discovered in epitaxial (111) and (110) Co/Cu/Co sandwiches with wedge-shaped Cu layers, deposited by molecular-beam epitaxy (MBE) on single-crystal substrates. This finding proves the intrinsic nature of the strong antiferromagnetic coupling in (111)-textured sputtered Co/Cu multilayers. Combined with recent results on (100) Co/Cu/Co MBE-grown samples, it becomes evident that the nature of the oscillations in Co/Cu/Co depends markedly on growth direction, agreeing with predictions invoking the topology of the Fermi surface of the interlayer Cu.

Received 15 June 1992

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.69.969

Authors & Affiliations

M. T. Johnson, R. Coehoorn, J. J. de Vries, N. W. E. McGee, J. aan de Stegge, and P. J. H. Bloemen

Philips Research, P.O. Box 80000, 5600 JA Eindhoven, The Netherlands
Department of Physics, Eindhoven University of Technology, 5600 MB Eindhoven , The Netherlands