Temperature dependence of magnetic properties in weakly exchange coupled Fe/V superlattices

We use Fe(3)/V(x) superlattices, x=16−27 monolayers (ML) to explore the interlayer exchange coupling (IEC) as a function of both spacer layer thickness and temperature. Fe/V is a common model system for studies addressing the IEC, but the behavior in the weakly exchange coupled regime, complemented with the temperature dependence of the magnetic properties, have remained unexplored. We observe clear regions with ferro- and antiferromagnetic coupling, which is manifested in oscillations in the saturation field, the remanence and the critical temperature. The oscillation in the interlayer coupling (J′) has a period of 5.8(1) ML. This is ≈0.8 ML smaller than observed for Fe(7)/V(x) superlattices which illustrates the influence of the magnetic layer thickness on the interlayer coupling. The temperature dependence of the remanent magnetization was proven to be significantly affected by the strength of the ferromagnetic coupling, leading to high values of the effective critical exponent βeff. - Highlights: • We present a study of the interlayer exchange coupling (IEC) in Fe/V superlattices. • The IEC influences strongly the temperature dependence of the magnetization. • We observe a non-uniform magnetization in the presence of IEC. • The thickness of the Fe layer influences the period of the interlayer coupling