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Register a new userDoes a surface spin-flop occur in antiferromagnetically coupled multilayers? Magnetic states and reorientation transitions in antiferromagnetic superlattices
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Equilibrium spin configurations and their stability limits have been calculated for models of magnetic superlattices with a finite number of thin ferromagnetic layers coupled antiferromagnetically through (non-magnetic) spacers as Fe/Cr and Co/Ru multilayers. Depending on values of applied magnetic field and unaxial anisotropy, the system assumes collinear(antiferromagnetic, ferromagnetic, various ferrimagnetic) phases, or spatially inhomogeneous (symmetric spin-flop phase and asymmetric, canted and twisted, phases)via series of field induced continuous and discontinuous transitions. Contrary to semi-infinite systems a surface phase transition, so-called surface spin-flop, does not occur in the models with a finite number of layers. It is shown that discrete jumps observed in some Fe/Cr superlattices and interpreted as surface spin-flop transition are first-order volume transitions between different canted phases. Depending on the system several of these collinear and canted phases can exist as metastable states in broad ranges of the magnetic fields, which may cause severe hysteresis effects. The results explain magnetization processes in recent experiments on antiferromagnetic Fe/Cr superlattices.
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In antiferromagnetically coupled superlattices grown on (001) faces of cubic substrates, e.g. based on materials combinations as Co/Cu, Fe/Si, Co/Cr, or Fe/Cr, the magnetic states evolve under competing influence of bilinear and biquadratic exchange interactions, surface-enhanced four-fold in-plane anisotropy, and specific finite-size effects. Using phenomenological (micromagnetic) theory, a comprehensive survey of the magnetic states and reorientation transitions has been carried out for multilayer systems with even number of ferromagnetic sub-layers and magnetizations in the plane. In two-layer systems (N=2) the phase diagrams in dependence on components of the applied field in the plane include ``swallow-tail type regions of (metastable) multistate co-existence and a number of continuous and discontinuous reorientation transitions induced by radial and transversal components of the applied field. In multilayers (N ge 4) noncollinear states are spatially inhomogeneous with magnetization varying across the multilayer stack. For weak four-fold anisotropy the magnetic states under influence of an applied field evolve by a complex continuous reorientation into the saturated state. At higher anisotropy they transform into various inhomogeneous and asymmetric structures. The discontinuous transitions between the magnetic states in these two-layers and multilayers are characterized by broad ranges of multi-phase coexistence of the (metastable) states and give rise to specific transitional domain structures.
A comprehensive theoretical investigation on the field-driven reorientation transitions in uniaxial multilayers with antiferromagnetic coupling is presented. It is based on a complete survey of the one-dimensional solutions for the basic phenomenological (micromagnetic) model that describes the magnetic properties of finite stacks made from ferromagnetic layers coupled antiferromagnetically through spacer layers. The general structure of the phase diagrams is analysed. At a high ratio of uniaxial anisotropy to antiferromagnetic interlayer exchange, only a succession of collinear magnetic states is possible. With increasing field first-order (metamagnetic) transitions occur from the antiferromagnetic ground-state to a set of degenerate ferrimagnetic states and to the saturated ferromagnetic state. At low anisotropies, a first-order transition from the antiferromagnetic ground-state to an inhomogeneous spin-flop state occurs. Between these two regions, transitional magnetic phases occupy the range of intermediate anisotropies. Detailed and quantitative phase diagrams are given for the basic model of antiferromagnetic multilayer systems with N = 2 to 16 layers. The connection of the phase diagrams with the spin-reorientation transitions in bulk antiferromagnets is discussed. The limits of low anisotropy and large numbers of layers are analysed by two different representations of the magnetic energy, namely, in terms of finite chains of staggered vectors and in a general continuum form. It is shown that the phenomena widely described as ``surface spin-flop are driven only by the cut exchange interactions and the non-compensated magnetic moment at the surface layers of a stacked antiferromagnetic system.
In antiferromagnetically coupled multilayers with perpendicular anisotropy unusual multidomain textures can be stabilized due to a close competition between long-range demagnetization fields and short-range interlayer exchange coupling. In particular, the formation and evolution of specific topologically stable planar defects within the antiferromagnetic ground state, i.e. wall-like structures with a ferromagnetic configuration extended over a finite width, explain configurational hysteresis phenomena recently observed in [Co/Pt(Pd)]/Ru and [Co/Pt]/NiO multilayers. Within a phenomenological theory, we have analytically derived the equilibrium sizes of these ferroband defects as functions of the antiferromagnetic exchange, a bias magnetic field, and geometrical parameters of the multilayers. In the magnetic phase diagram, the existence region of the ferrobands mediates between the regions of patterns with sharp antiferromagnetic domain walls and regular arrays of ferromagnetic stripes. The theoretical results are supported by magnetic force microscopy images of the remanent states observed in [Co/Pt]/Ru.
The in-plane correlation lengths and magnetic disorder of magnetic domains in a transition metal multilayer have been studied using neutron scattering techniques. A new theoretical framework is presented connecting the observed scattering to the in-plane correlation length and the dispersion of the local magnetization vector about the mean macroscopic direction. The results unambiguously show the highly correlated nature of the antiferromagnetically coupled domain structure vertically throughout the multilayer. We are easily able to relate the neutron determined magnetic dispersion and domain correlations to magnetization and magnetotransport experiments.
The classical spin-flop is the field-driven first-order reorientation transition in easy-axis antiferromagnets. A comprehensive phenomenological theory of easy-axis antiferromagnets displaying spin-flops is developed. It is shown how the hierarchy of magnetic coupling strengths in these antiferromagnets causes a strongly pronounced two-scale character in their magnetic phase structure. In contrast to the major part of the magnetic phase diagram, these antiferromagnets near the spin-flop region are described by an effective model akin to uniaxial ferromagnets. For a consistent theoretical description both higher-order anisotropy contributions and dipolar stray-fields have to be taken into account near the spin-flop. In particular, thermodynamically stable multidomain states exist in the spin-flop region, owing to the phase coexistence at this first-order transition. For this region, equilibrium spin-configurations and parameters of the multidomain states are derived as functions of the external magnetic field. The components of the magnetic susceptibility tensor are calculated for homogeneous and multidomain states in the vicinity of the spin-flop. The remarkable anomalies in these measurable quantities provide an efficient method to investigate magnetic states and to determine materials parameters in bulk and confined antiferromagnets, as well as in nanoscale synthetic antiferromagnets. The method is demonstrated for experimental data on the magnetic properties near the spin-flop region in the orthorhombic layered antiferromagnet (C_2H_5NH_3)_2CuCl_4.
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