Magnetic ordering in Fe/Co sandwiches on Cu(100)

Abstract

We investigate magnetic correlations and local magnetic moments at finitetemperatures of some Fe and Co multilayers on Cu(100) substrates, such asComFenCom/Cu(100) andFemConFem/Cu(100). We use an ab initio mean-field theory of magnetic fluctuations for layered materials basedon the first-principles local spin-density functional theory implemented throughthe screened Korringa–Kohn–Rostoker method. We find that the presence ofFe layers in the neighbourhood of a Co layer always leads to a reduction in themagnetic moment of the Co atoms, whereas that of the Fe atoms is enhanced. Ofparticular interest is the lack of local moment formation on the single fcc-Co layersandwiched between two fcc-Fe layers. However, a Co layer completely immersedin a Cu environment remains ferromagnetic. The Curie temperature of theComFenCom/Cu(100) system oscillates as the Fe layer thickness is increased whereas that of theFemConFem/Cu(100) system increases almost monotonically with Co layer thickness.