Abstract
The depth-resolved magnetic configuration of a Ga0.97Mn0.03As/GaAs:Be multilayer with an antiferromagnetic interlayer exchange coupling was investigated using surface-sensitive soft x-ray resonant magnetic reflectivity (XRMR). We observed intriguing opposite increments in the XRMR intensities at the half-Bragg peak position between two different remanent states with opposite field sweep directions. A quantitative analysis shows that these opposite intensity increments result from two different anti-parallel spin configurations in such a way that the magnetization of top-most magnetic layer is pinned along the saturation magnetization direction before the remanent state. This surface pinning effect is important for understanding spin-dependent transport in semiconducting magnetic multilayers.
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Cho, BG., Kim, DO., Kim, JY. et al. Surface pinning effect of an antiferromagnetic interlayer exchange coupling in (Ga1−x Mn x As/GaAs:Be)10 multilayer. Journal of the Korean Physical Society 71, 121–125 (2017). https://doi.org/10.3938/jkps.71.121
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3938/jkps.71.121