Spin structures of Fe/Gd and Fe/Cr multilayers determined by polarized neutron reflectometry

Polarized neutron reflection was used to determine the magnetic structure of two different antiferromagnetically coupled multilayer systems, Fe/Gd and Fe/Cr. In Fe/Gd, the Fe and Gd moments are coupled antiparallel at the interface. At low temperatures a surface-induced magnetic phase transition was found. In Fe/Cr, annealing at temperatures of up to 425°C resulted in the degrading of antiferromagnetic coupling between Fe layers and in the formation of ferromagnetically coupled regions. © 1993.