Influence of Nanosize Effect and Non-Magnetic Dilution on Interlayer Exchange Coupling in Fe–Cr/Cr Nanostructures

Magnetic properties of multilayered [Fe–Cr/Cr]×8 nanostructures with the interlayer exchange coupling of the antiferromagnetic type and without the interlayer coupling have been studied. The values of the saturation magnetization and the interlayer exchange coupling constant are shown to strongly depend on the thickness and non-magnetic dilution of the Fe–Cr layers. It is found that those parameters differently affect the interlayer exchange coupling, which is explained by an interplay between the size effect (the thickness of the Fe–Cr layers) and the magnetic polarization of the Fe–Cr/Cr interfaces depending on the Fe concentration.