Unidirectional anisotropy and spin-configurations in ferro/antiferromagnetic exchange coupled layers with FCC(1 0 0) and FCC(1 1 1) interfaces

Abstract In a ferromagnetic (F)/antiferromagnetic (AF) exchange coupled bilayer, we have recently demonstrated by 0 K Monte Carlo simulation using classical nearest neighbor Heisenberg model for an sc lattice system that a typical unidirectional anisotropy can be induced, even for the compensated AF interface, by just assuming a loosely coupled interface within the AF-layer. In this study, we have applied the loosely coupled layer model to FCC(0 0 1) and FCC(1 1 1) AF-interfaces. It has turned out that the model can cause a unidirectional anisotropy for (1 1 1) interfaces, but not for (0 0 1). The unidirectional anisotropy can be attributed to loosely coupled FCC(1 1 1) AF-interface energy, but almost no interface energy is generated in case of FCC(0 0 1) since the nearest-neighbor exchange coupling is canceled out leaving substantially weak exchange coupling between them.