ACTA

Interlayer Exchange Coupling in Semiconductor EuS-PbS Ferromagnetic Wedge Multilayers

L. Kowalczyk^a, S. Wrotek^a, P. Dziawa^a, V. Osinniy^a, M. Szot^a, T. Story^a, A.Yu. Sipatov^b, V.V. Volobuev^b and A.G. Fedoro^c
^aInstitute of Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences, al. Lotników 32/46, 02-668 Warsaw, Poland
^bNational Technical University KPI, 21 Frunze Street, 61002 Kharkov, Ukraine
^cInstitute for Scintillation Materials NASU, Lenin Ave. 60, 61001 Kharkov, Ukraine

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Received: 17 06 2006;

Antiferromagnetic interlayer coupling between ferromagnetic layers of EuS via nonmagnetic PbS spacer layer was experimentally studied in EuS-PbS wedge multilayers grown on KCl (001) substrates with EuS thickness of 6 nm and PbS thickness varying in the wedges in the range 0.3-6 nm (i.e. n=1-20 monolayers). Measurements of magnetic hysteresis loops of EuS-PbS multilayers performed in the temperature range 5-30 K by superconducting (SQUID) and magneto-optical magnetometers revealed a rapid increase in saturation magnetic field in multilayers with PbS spacer thinner than about 1.5 nm. It shows a monotonic increase in interlayer coupling strength with a decreasing PbS spacer thickness, in qualitative agreement with 1/2ⁿ dependence predicted theoretically for semiconductor magnetic superlattices.

DOI: 10.12693/APhysPolA.110.225
PACS numbers: 75.20.Ck, 75.30.Et