Helical and incommensurate spin-density waves in Fe/Cr multilayers with interfacial steps

R. S. Fishman

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

26 Scopus citations

Abstract

Although absent in bulk transition metals, a noncollinear, helical (H) spin-density wave (SDW) is stabilized by steps at the interfaces in Fe/Cr multilayers. Using the random-phase approximation, we evaluate the phase boundary between the H SDW and the collinear, incommensurate (I) SDW found in bulk Cr. In agreement with neutron-scattering results, the I-to-H transition temperature TIH is always lower than the bulk Néel temperature TN and the nodes of the I SDW lie near the Fe-Cr interfaces. While a H SDW with a single ±π/2 twist has lower free energy than a I SDW above TN, H SDW's with larger twists are stable between TIH and TN.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)4979-4982
Number of pages4
JournalPhysical Review Letters
Volume81
Issue number22
DOIs
StatePublished - 1998

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