Transverse and lateral structure of the spin-flop phase in fe/cr antiferromagnetic superlattices

Direct evidence of the nonuniformly canted state of the spin-flop phase induced by a magnetic field applied to Fe/Cr(100) superlattices is obtained by polarized neutron reflectometry. It is unambiguously demonstrated that the magnetization of the alternating Fe layers is twisted through the multilay...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physical review letters 2002-10, Vol.89 (16), p.167203-167203
Main Authors: Lauter-Pasyuk, V, Lauter, H J, Toperverg, B P, Romashev, L, Ustinov, V
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:Direct evidence of the nonuniformly canted state of the spin-flop phase induced by a magnetic field applied to Fe/Cr(100) superlattices is obtained by polarized neutron reflectometry. It is unambiguously demonstrated that the magnetization of the alternating Fe layers is twisted through the multilayer stack proving a stable noncollinear configuration. The maximal tilt at the end layers progressively reduces towards the center of the multilayer. The set of tilt angles is deduced from a model-free data evaluation employing the supermatrix routine. Spin-flip off-specular scattering is determined by the in-plane magnetization fluctuations and is fitted by a theoretical model of domains.
ISSN:0031-9007
DOI:10.1103/PhysRevLett.89.167203