Brillouin light scattering on Fe/Cr/Fe thin‐film sandwiches

Brillouin light scattering (BLS) in the backscattering configuration has been used to study the magnetic excitations in epitaxial Fe(38 A)/Cr(13 A)/Fe(38 A) thin‐film sandwiches. Spin‐wave frequency was measured versus in‐plane wave vector k and static in‐plane magnetic field H for both [100] and [110] direction fields and with k perpendicular to H. The range of applied fields was 50–1500 Oe. The wave‐number range was 0.45×105–2.3×105 rad/cm. The BLS spectra correlate with magnetization versus field profiles and confirm the antiferromagnetic coupling between the Fe layers. Under low‐field conditions and near‐antiparallel alignment of the Fe layer magnetization vectors, the spin‐wave frequencies from the Stokes and anti‐Stokes sides of the BLS spectra are different. These frequencies merge at high field. The low‐field splitting feature is very sensitive to small differences in thickness for the magnetic layers and indicates a thickness difference of 9%. Matchups between features of the BLS data and magneti...

[1]  A. Fert,et al.  Magnetic multilayers: oscillatory interlayer exchange and giant magnetoresistance , 1992 .

[2]  A. Arrott,et al.  Magnetic anisotropies in single and multilayered structures (invited) , 1991 .

[3]  M. Vohl,et al.  Layered Magnetic Structures: Antiferromagnetic Type Interlayer Coupling and Magnetoresistance Due to Antiparallel Alignment , 1991 .

[4]  J. A. Wolf,et al.  Evidence for Oscillations in the Interlayer Coupling of Fe Films Across Cr Films from Spin Waves and M(H) Curves , 1991 .

[5]  H. Fujimori,et al.  Magnetic anisotropy of Fe/Mo and Fe/Pd artificial superlattices , 1991 .

[6]  Cochran,et al.  Brillouin light-scattering experiments on exchange-coupled ultrathin bilayers of iron separated by epitaxial copper (001). , 1990, Physical review. B, Condensed matter.

[7]  G. A. Prinz,et al.  Observation of magnetic resonance modes of Fe layers coupled via intervening Cr (invited) , 1990 .

[8]  P. Grünberg,et al.  Spin waves in exchange-coupled epitaxial double-layers , 1989 .

[9]  Grünberg,et al.  Effect of interlayer exchange coupling on spin-wave spectra in magnetic double layers: Theory and experiment. , 1989, Physical review. B, Condensed matter.

[10]  Purcell,et al.  Structural and magnetic properties of ultrathin Ni/Fe bilayers grown epitaxially on Ag(001). , 1988, Physical review. B, Condensed matter.

[11]  Etienne,et al.  Giant magnetoresistance of (001)Fe/(001)Cr magnetic superlattices. , 1988, Physical review letters.

[12]  J. Dutcher,et al.  Calculation of Brillouin light scattering intensities from pairs of exchange‐coupled thin films , 1988 .

[13]  D. Steigerwald,et al.  Magnetic properties of sandwiches and superlattices of fcc Fe(001) grown on Cu(001) substrates , 1988 .

[14]  U. Walz,et al.  Static and dynamic magnetic properties of Fe‐Cr‐layered structures with antiferromagnetic interlayer exchange , 1988 .

[15]  B. Hillebrands,et al.  Brillouin scattering from collective spin waves in magnetic superlattices (invited) , 1988 .

[16]  R. Camley.  Nonreciprocal surface waves , 1987 .

[17]  A. Slavin,et al.  Theory of dipole-exchange spin wave spectrum for ferromagnetic films with mixed exchange boundary conditions , 1986 .

[18]  B. Hillebrands,et al.  Collective spin waves in Fe-Pd and Fe-W multilayer structures. , 1986, Physical review. B, Condensed matter.

[19]  Schreiber,et al.  Layered magnetic structures: Evidence for antiferromagnetic coupling of Fe layers across Cr interlayers. , 1986, Physical review letters.

[20]  W. Wettling,et al.  Brillouin scattering study of multilayer cobalt-niobium films , 1985 .

[21]  P. Grünberg.  Some ways to modify the spin-wave mode spectra of magnetic multilayers , 1985 .

[22]  J. Parekh.  Special issue on magnetostatic waves and applications to signal processing , 1985 .

[23]  M. Grimsditch,et al.  Magnetic properties of Mo/Ni superlattices (invited) , 1984 .

[24]  M. Grimsditch,et al.  Magnons in superlattices: a light scattering study , 1984 .

[25]  M. Grimsditch,et al.  Collective behavior of magnons in superlattices , 1983 .

[26]  P. Grünberg,et al.  Magnetostatic spin-wave modes of a ferromagnetic multilayer , 1983 .

[27]  H. Pascard,et al.  Evidence for an Exchange Coupling at the Interface between Two Ferromagnetic Films , 1970 .

[28]  R. Damon,et al.  Magnetostatic modes of a ferromagnet slab , 1961 .

[29]  Stamps.  Spin configurations and spin-wave excitations in exchange-coupled bilayers. , 1994, Physical review. B, Condensed matter.

[30]  B. Hillebrands,et al.  Spin-wave calculations for multilayered structures. , 1990, Physical review. B, Condensed matter.

[31]  P. Grünberg.  Light scattering from magnetic surface excitations , 1985 .

[32]  C. Patton.  Magnetic excitations in solids , 1984 .

[33]  W. Wettling,et al.  Light scattering from surface and bulk thermal magnons in iron and nickel , 1979 .