MAGNETIZATION AND MAGNETORESISTANCE OF FE/GD FERRIMAGNETIC MULTILAYER FILMS

Spin-flop and compensation phenomena of the magnetization in ferrimagnetic Fe/Gd multilayer films have extensively been investigated. It turns out that experimental results of the field and temperature dependence of magnetization agree fairly well with the calculated ones based on the molecular field model. In the calculation, we have obtained the magnetic structure, assuming that the composition is modulated stepwise, and that the exchange interactions in Fe and Gd layers are the same values as those in bulk Fe and Gd metals, respectively. Both longitudinal and transverse magnetoresistances show a crossover near the spin flop field due to the change in the magnetic structure. This crossover behavior is qualitatively well simulated by the calculation on the assumption of the parallel current flow in each atomic layer.