Interlayer exchange coupling between layers with perpendicular and easy-plane magnetic anisotropies

Abstract

Interlayer exchange coupling between layers with perpendicular and easy-plane magnetic anisotropies separated by a non-magnetic spacer is studied using ferromagnetic resonance. The samples consist of a Co/Ni multilayer with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy and a CoFeB layer with easy-plane anisotropy separated by a variable thickness Ru layer. At a fixed frequency, we show that there is an avoided crossing of layer ferromagnetic resonance modes providing direct evidence for interlayer coupling. The mode dispersions for different Ru thicknesses are fit to a Heisenberg-type model to determine the interlayer exchange coupling strength and layer properties. The resulting interlayer exchange coupling varies continuously from antiferromagnetic to ferromagnetic as a function of the Ru interlayer thickness. These results show that the magnetic layer single domain ground state consists of magnetizations that can be significantly canted with respect to the layer planes and the canting can be tuned by varying the Ru thickness and the layer magnetic characteristics, a capability of interest for applications in spin-transfer torque devices.