Balancing interlayer dipolar interactions in multilevel patterned media with out-of-plane magnetic anisotropy.

Nanostructures consisting of a stack of two magnetic multilayers with out-of-plane anisotropy and distinct coercivities hold great promises in spintronics devices. Yet their miniaturization leads to interlayer dipolar coupling, which results in detrimental asymmetrical behaviors of magnetization reversal or even in the loss of intermediate antiparallel configuration. In this letter, we take advantage of Ruderman–Kittel–Kasuya–Yosida interactions in order to compensate for this coupling and restore symmetry. The study has been performed on an array of square dots of 200 nm lateral size, each dot consisting of two [Co/Pt] multilayers antiferromagnetically coupled through a thin Ru spacer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]