Spacer Thickness and Temperature Dependences of the Interlayer Exchange Coupling in a Co/Pt/Co Three-Layer Structure

Abstract

Domain wall mobility as a function of nonmagnetic interlayer thickness and temperature was studied in ultrathin exchange-coupled ferromagnetic layers using magneto-optic Kerr microscopy. The system under study is a Pt/Co/Pt/Co/Pt heterostructure having perpendicular magnetic anisotropy and a middle Pt layer with spatially variable thickness. The ferromagnetic interaction between the Co layers is observed when the Pt interlayer thickness varies from 5 to 6 nm in a temperature range of 200–300 K. There is a certain interval of Pt layer thickness where domain walls in both ferromagnetic layers move independently. Nonlinear dependence of the domain wall displacement on the applied field was measured. It is shown that an equilibrium position of the relaxed domain wall depends on field, temperature, and the nonmagnetic interlayer thickness. This position is determined by the energy balance: (i) domain wall displacement provided by the applied field, (ii) interlayer exchange interaction in the area swept by the domain wall, and (iii) domain wall coercivity. The mechanism of domain wall stabilization in terms of independent wall motion near critical thickness was considered. It is found that both the coercivity of the Co layer and the critical thickness decrease at higher temperature, while the interlayer exchange constant J is changed weakly.