TEMPERATURE-DEPENDENCE OF NONCOLLINEAR INTERLAYER COUPLING

Based on the Anderson s-d mixing model in the presence of spin-orbit c oupling, the noncollinear interlayer coupling in metallic magnetic lay ered structures is studied theoretically. After transforming the Ander son s-d mixing model into the s-d exchange model, both the isotropic a nd anisotropic Dzyaloshinsky-Moriya (DM) scattering potentials between the conduction electrons and localized moments are obtained. This ani sotropic DM scattering potential can lead to a noncollinear interlayer coupling in magnetic metallic layered structures. At finite temperatu re, the anisotropic interlayer exchange coupling has the same spacer l ayer thickness dependence as the usual isotropic Ruderman-Kittel-Kasuy a-Yosida (RKKY) interlayer coupling and consists of two terms. One ter m has the same temperature dependence as the isotropic coupling, but i ts oscillation with spacer layer thickness has a phase shift of pi/2. The other term has a different temperature dependence and no phase shi ft. Their relevance to the experimental results is also discussed. (C) 1997 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.