Large interlayer Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions across Ag-layers.

Seeking to enhance the strength of the interlayer Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (IL-DMI) through a combination of atomic and Rashba type spin-orbit coupling (SOC) we studied the strength and the thickness evolution of effective interlayer coupling in Co/Ag/Co trilayers by means of surface sensitive magneto-optical measurements that take advantage of the light penetration depth. Here, we report the observation of oscillatory, thickness-dependent chiral interaction between ferromagnetic layers. Despite the weakness of the Ag atomic SOC, the IL-DMI in our trilayers is orders of magnitude larger than that of known systems using heavy metals as a spacer except of recently reported -0.

Modulation of Magnetic Properties at the Nanometer Scale in Continuously Graded Ferromagnets.

: Ferromagnetic alloy materials with designed composition depth profiles provide an efficient route for the control of magnetism at the nanometer length scale. In this regard, cobalt-chromium and cobalt-ruthenium alloys constitute powerful model systems. They exhibit easy-to-tune magnetic properties such as saturation magnetization and Curie temperature while preserving their crystalline structure over a wide composition range.

Nonuniversal surface behavior of dynamic phase transitions.

We have studied the dynamic phase transition (DPT) of the kinetic Ising model in systems with surfaces within the mean-field approximation. Varying the surface exchange coupling strength J(s), the amplitude of the externally applied oscillating field h(0), and its period P, we explore the dynamic behavior of the layer-dependent magnetization and the associated DPTs. The surface phase diagram shows several features that resemble those of the equilibrium case, with an extraordinary bulk transition and a surface transition for high J(s) values, independent from the value of h(0).