Layer-resolved magnetic imaging of spin-reorientation transitions in Ni/Cu/Co trilayers

Kuch, W., Gilles, J., Gao, X. Y and Kirschner, J.

Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials 242-245, pp 1246-1248 (2002)

Photoelectron emission microscopy (PEEM) in combination with magnetic circular dichroism in soft X-ray absorption (XMCD) allows the layer-resolved microscopic imaging of magnetic domains. This is applied for the study of ultrathin epitaxial Co/Cu/Ni/Cu(0 0 1) trilayers. At about 1.9 atomic monolayers (ML) Co on 4 ML Cu/15 ML Ni a spin-reorientation transition of the Co layer between out-of-plane and in-plane, accompanied by a transition from collinear to non-collinear alignment between Co and Ni is observed.

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