Theory of Oscillatory Exchange Coupling in Fe/(V,Cr) and Fe/(Cr,Mn)

Abstract

Using a first-principles method, we determined the composition and orientation dependence of oscillatory exchange coupling in bcc $\mathrm{Fe}/{\mathrm{V}}_{x}{\mathrm{Cr}}_{1\ensuremath{-}x}$ and $\mathrm{Fe}/{\mathrm{Cr}}_{1\ensuremath{-}y}{\mathrm{Mn}}_{y}$ magnetic multilayer alloys for $0<x<1$ and $0<y<0.3$. For the [001] and [110] orientations, the coupling was oscillatory and well described by the superposition of two well-separated RKKY-like components. The composition dependence of the coupling amplitudes and periods shows a rich variety of features. These are discussed and compared with experiment and the predictions of simplified models.