SPIN ORIENTATION IN AN EXCHANGE-COUPLED FE CR/FE TRILAYER DETERMINED BY POLARIZED NEUTRON REFLECTION/

We have used polarized neutron reflection to determine the layer-depen dent spin orientations in an antiferromagnetically coupled 100 Angstro m Cr/50 Angstrom Fe/15 Angstrom Cr/50 Angstrom Fe/Si sandwich structur e prepared by sputtering. At low field, the net Fe layer magnetic mome nts align in an asymmetric canted orientation with a near zero total m agnetic moment for the sample. At high fields, a canted state, nearly symmetric with respect to the applied field direction is observed and the magnetization in each layer does not reach the bulk saturation val ue until the layers are ferromagnetically aligned. The behavior is dis cussed in the context of current theories of exchange coupling. (C) 19 96 American Institute of Physics.