INTERLAYER EXCHANGE COUPLING AND INTERFACE REFLECTIVITIES IN FE CU, CO/CU AND NI/CU(001) LAYERS/

We present ab initio calculations for the interlayer exchange coupling of FCC Fe, Co and Ni layers in Cu (0 0 1) which have been performed b y a KKR-Green's function method for planar defects. The calculations s how strong differences in the amplitudes for the short and long oscill ation periods, which in a first approximation can be understood from t he bulk band structures of Fe, Co and Ni. We discuss results for the q uantum well states in the Cu spacer layers and their relation to inter layer coupling. We investigate in detail the effect of the finite thic kness of the magnetic layers and present calculations for the reflecti vity of a Cu Blochwave at a magnetic layer of finite thickness. We dis cuss the temperature dependence of the coupling and the transition fro m finite-to-infinite layer thickness.