Systematic variation of the strength and oscillation period of indirect magnetic exchange coupling through the 3<i>d</i>, 4<i>d</i>, and 5<i>d</i>transition metals

Abstract

We show that oscillatory indirect magnetic exchange coupling via transition metals sandwiched between ferromagnetic layers of Fe, Co, Ni, or Ni alloys is a general phenomeonon. Surprisingly, the oscillation period is approximately the same, \ensuremath{\simeq}10 \AA{}, in all the transition metals in which we observe coupling with the single exception of Cr, for which it is much longer. Furthermore, the exchange-coupling strength is found to increase systematically from the 5d to 4d to 3d metals and exponentially with increasing number of d electrons along each period.