Study of the interface interaction of epitaxial Fe Cr layers

Investigations on the magnetic behavior of expitaxially grown Fe films on Cr were performed by ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) and by SQUID DC-magnetometry. The magnetic Fe parameters show a significant deviation from the expected temperature dependence which is attributed to a change of the interface coupling between Fe and Cr. The observed anomalies are related to the spin-flip in Cr where the orientation of the magnetic moments flips from out-of-plane to in-plane alignment. The spin-flip transition temperature depends on the Cr thickness. The spin-flip is suppressed for Cr thicknesses comparable to the wavelength of the sinusoidal modulated antiferromagnetic groundstate. In addition, the influence of the interface conditions on the formation of standing spin waves in Fe on Cr has been studied. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.