Physics – Condensed Matter – Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
Scientific paper
2007-12-10
Phys. Rev. B 76, 174417 (2007)
Physics
Condensed Matter
Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
9 pages, 8 figures
Scientific paper
10.1103/PhysRevB.76.174417
We present a first-principles study to understand the phenomena of interlayer exchange coupling in Fe/Nb multilayers using the linearized-muffin-tin-orbitals method within the generalized gradient approximation. We find that the exchange coupling oscillates with both short and long periodicities, which have been examined in terms of the Ruderman-Kittel-Kasuya-Yosida (RKKY) model as well as the quantum well (QW) model. We have investigated the behavior of the exchange coupling by artificially varying moments of Fe atoms in ferromagnetic layers. For a small moment of Fe, the coupling shows bilinearity in the magnetic moments, implying its RKKY character. However, at higher moments close to that of bulk Fe, the saturation of long-period oscillations is in accordance with the QW model. Quantum well dispersions around the Fermi level demonstrate that the majority-spin bands contribute largely to the formation of quantum well states, which we analyze quantitatively by making use of the phase accumulation model. Our analysis indicates that the quantum well model gives a better description of the oscillatory behavior of the exchange coupling in Fe/Nb multilayers.
Prasad Rajendra
Sen Abhijit
Shukla Nitya Nath
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