Exchange coupling and magnetization profiles of binary and ternary magnetic multilayers

Abstract

Within a spin-polarized LMTO approach in the Atomic-Sphere approximation we calculate ab initio the magnetic properties of various binary and ternary multilayers composed of Fe, Co, Ni, Cr, V and Cu. The emphasis lies on the indirect exchange interaction of the magnetic sandwiches across the antiferromagnetic or non-magnetic spacers, and on the profiles of the intrinsic resp. induced magnetic moments. Among other results we find: (i) that Ni is very sensitive on its neighborhood and that (ii) at the interface to Fe, V gets almost as strongly polarized as Cr, whereas in the interiour layers, the V sandwich remains nonpolarized.