Magnetization Process in Exchange-Coupled NiFe/NiO/CoPt Trilayers.

Engineering the interlayer exchange coupling in magnetic trilayers

When the thickness of metal film approaches the nanoscale, itinerant carriers resonate between its boundaries and form quantum well states (QWSs), which are crucial to account for the film's electrical, transport and magnetic properties. Besides the classic origin of particle-in-a-box, the QWSs are also susceptible to the crystal structures that affect the quantum resonance. Here we investigate...

Competition between in-plane and out-of-plane magnetization in exchange-coupled magnetic films

The coupling between a Co layer with in-plane easy axis of magnetization and a Ni layer with out-of-plane easy axis across a nonmagnetic Cu spacer layer was studied by layer-resolved magnetic imaging. Photoelectron emission microscopy and magnetic circular dichroism in soft x-ray absorption as the magnetic contrast mechanism were used for the domain imaging. Crossed, wedge-shaped epitaxial Co a...

Interplay between magnetic anisotropy and interlayer coupling in nanosecond magnetization reversal of spin-valve trilayers

Influence of interfacial disorder and temperature on magnetization reversal in exchange-coupled bilayers

M. R. Fitzsimmons, C. Leighton,* A. Hoffmann, P. C. Yashar, J. Nogués, K. Liu, C. F. Majkrzak, J. A. Dura, H. Fritzsche, and Ivan K. Schuller Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545 Department of Physics, University of California–San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093-0319 Departament de Fı́sica, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193 Bellaterra, Spain National Institute of...

Magnetization-dependent shift in ferromagnet/superconductor/ferromagnet trilayers with a strong ferromagnet.

We have measured the superconducting transition temperature Tc of Ni/Nb/Ni trilayers when the magnetizations of the two outer Ni layers are parallel (P) and antiparallel (AP). The largest difference in occurs when the Nb thickness is just above the critical thickness at which superconductivity disappears completely. We have observed a difference in Tc between the P and AP states as large as 41 ...