Magnetic polarization of Pd spacers and oscillatory exchange coupling between Fe and Pd layers in Fe/Pd multilayers

An oscillatory behavior in specific saturation magnetization of Fe/Pd multilayers is observed. The conversion electron Mossbauer spectroscopy and other experiments indicate that this behavior is caused by the magnetic polarization of Pd spacers, which alternates between positive and negative polarization with respect to the magnetic moments of Fe layers. The interlayer coupling between two Fe layers always keeps ferromagnetic. Then, the interlayer couplings in ferromagnetic metal/nearly ferromagnetic metal multilayers were calculated by using the model of Barnas. The results of calculation prove that the above phenomenon might appear under some condition. The influence of magnetic polarization potential of spacers and interface chemical potential on the interlayer couplings is also discussed.