Element-specific magnetization curves and crossover in Co/Cu/Ni/Cu(001) trilayers studies by XMCD

We present temperature-dependent measurements via the element-specific XMCD technique for Co/Cu/Ni trilayers for cases where the ordering temperature of Co is lower than the one of Ni. Our work focuses mainly on the influence of the interlayer coupling on the shape of the temperature-dependent magne tization curves of Ni. By selecting 1.3 ML of Co and 4 ML of Ni we get a lo wer T-C(Co) approximate to 90 K and a higher T-C\(Ni) approximate to 180 K. The crossing of the M(T) curves leads to a rotation of the remanent magnet ization of Ni. A case where the sublayer magnetizations change gradually th eir angle as a function of the temperature is recorded and attributed to a competition between coupling and anisotropy mechanisms.