MAGNETIC COUPLINGS IN FE/MN AND FE/CR SUPERLATTICES

In this paper, we point out the importance of the spacer's magnetic order with regard to the properties of ferromagnetic/antiferromagnetic superlattices at T = 0 K. We discuss (i) the magnetic properties of superlattices based on ferromagnetic (Fe) and antiferromagnetic (Cr and Mn) layers in the itinerant magnetism framework, (ii) the relation between the interfacial, interlayer and intralayer couplings and the magnetic moment distributions and (iii) the role of the magnetic frustrations. The interlayer magnetic couplings are found to oscillate with the parity of n but the magnitude of these oscillations decreases more rapidly with an Mn spacer than with a Cr spacer.