Spin reorientation via antiferromagnetic coupling.

Spin reorientation in antiferromagnetically coupled (AFC) Co/Pd multilayers, wherein the thickness of the constituent Co layers was varied, was studied. AFC-Co/Pd multilayers were observed to have perpendicular magnetic anisotropy even for a Co sublayer thickness of 1 nm, much larger than what is usually observed in systems without antiferromagnetic coupling. When similar multilayer structures were prepared without antiferromagnetic coupling, this effect was not observed. The results indicate that the additional anisotropy energy contribution arising from the antiferromagnetic coupling, which is estimated to be around 6×10⁶ ergs/cm³, induces the spin-reorientation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]