MAGNETIC-ANISOTROPY AND EXCHANGE COUPLING IN FENVM(001) SUPERLATTICESON MGO(001)

Fe(0 0 1) single layers and FenVm(0 0 1) superlattices were epitaxiall y grown on MgO(0 0 1) substrates, where n and m denote the number of m onolayers (ML) of the constituents within each modulation period. n an d tn were varied between 3 and 14 ML. Structural characterization, per formed by X-ray diffraction, revealed excellent reproduction in the re peat length Lambda and good crystal quality. The samples were found, v ia Vibrating Sample Magnetometry and Ferromagnetic Resonance in combin ation with magneto-optic Kerr effect experiments, to exhibit an anisot ropic in-plane behavior with the easy-axis being the [1 0 0] crystallo graphic direction, revealing the expected single crystalline propertie s. The anisotropy vanishes at small Fe-layer thickness which originate in a competition between a volume and surface anisotropy. Hysteresis loops with bilinear and biquadratic exchange coupling features were re corded for a V interlayer thickness of 13 ML and were theoretically re produced using a phenomenological model.