Interlayer exchange and domain-wall fine structure in Co/Ru/Co trilayers
Abstract
Ultrathin Co/Ru/Co trilayers are experimentally investigated and emphasis is on the lateral distribution of the interlayer exchange and the domain-wall fine structure of antiphase domain walls. The films are produced by magnetron sputtering and consist of two Co layers of equal thickness (5 nm), exchange-coupled through a Ru interlayer of variable thickness. The exchange and its distribution are studied by measurements of the static magnetization curves and of the dynamic magnetization precession using a femtosecond-laser pump-probe technique. For a Ru thickness of 0.4 nm, the exchange is predominantly antiferromagnetic (Jeff = - 2.1 mJ/m^3) and magnetic force microscopy images show fairly immobile domain walls. Another feature is that the domain-wall width changes from 350 nm for low fields to 150 nm for the largest applied field. Micromagnetic model calculations yield immobile antiphase domain walls whose thickness decreases with increasing magnetic field but is typically of the order of 100 nm, in agreement with experiment.
- Publication:
-
APS March Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- March 2010
- Bibcode:
- 2010APS..MARA34010L