Interlayer magnetic coupling: Effect of disorder in spacer

The influence of spacer randomness on the periods and the amplitudes of the oscillations of exchange coupling in magnetic multilayers is studied from first principles. The effect of disorder is treated within the coherent potential approximation. As a case study, results obtained for trilayers Co/Cu 1- x M x /Co(001), where M  Ni, Pd, and Zn, are presented and discussed.