Magnetic moments and Curie temperatures of Ni and Co thin films and coupled trilayers

We present x-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) measurements on single layers, bilayers, and trilayers consisting of Ni, Co, and Cu. Using XMCD sum rules, spin and orbital contributions to the total magnetic moment were determined for 2.1 ML Co and 4 ML Ni single layers on Cu(001). In accordance with theory for Co, both spin and orbital moments show an enhancement. In the case of Ni, both spin and orbital moments were reduced. The total magnetic moment of the 4 ML Ni film reduces by a factor of 2 as compared to the Ni bulk. The Curie temperature of both Ni and Co were found to reduce upon capping with Cu. In trilayers, the shape of the Ni magnetization curves were found to be influenced through exchange coupling due to the presence of Co.