Abstract
We demonstrate a 20-fold enhancement in the strength of the Ruderman–Kittel–Kasuya–Yosida interlayer exchange in dilute-ferromagnet/normal-metal multilayers by incorporating ultrathin Fe layers at the interfaces. Additionally, the resulting increase in the interface magnetic polarization profoundly affects the finite-size effects, sharpening the Curie transition of the multilayer, while allowing us to separately tune its Curie temperature via intra-layer magnetic dilution. These results should be useful for designing functional materials for applications in magnetocaloric micro-refrigeration and thermally assisted spin-electronics.
Highlights
The useful functionality of SAF systems extends to the realm of thermo-magnetic effects.18–23 Incorporating dilute-ferromagnets (e.g., FexCr1–x) with a relatively low Curie point (TC near room temperature) into Ruderman– Kittel–Kasuya–Yosida (RKKY)-coupled Fe/Cr-based multilayers was experimentally shown to enable thermally controlled antiferromagnetic exchange21,22 as well as a giant magnetocaloric effect.23 These were explained in terms of a thermally driven competition between the intra- and interlayer exchange interactions, when the two are tuned to be comparable in magnitude
We demonstrate a 20-fold enhancement in the strength of the Ruderman–Kittel–Kasuya–Yosida interlayer exchange in dilute-ferromagnet/ normal-metal multilayers by incorporating ultrathin Fe layers at the interfaces
In this Letter, we demonstrate a 20-fold increase in the strength of the interlayer RKKY coupling in low-TC (Fe37Cr63/Cr)N multilayers by incorporating 0.25-nm-thick Fe layers at the Fe–Cr/Cr interfaces
Summary
The useful functionality of SAF systems extends to the realm of thermo-magnetic effects.18–23 Incorporating dilute-ferromagnets (e.g., FexCr1–x) with a relatively low Curie point (TC near room temperature) into RKKY-coupled Fe/Cr-based multilayers was experimentally shown to enable thermally controlled antiferromagnetic exchange21,22 as well as a giant magnetocaloric effect.23 These were explained in terms of a thermally driven competition between the intra- and interlayer exchange interactions, when the two are tuned to be comparable in magnitude.
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