Magnetic interface anisotropy in Ni/Fe/Ni(1 1 1) trilayers

Abstract The direction of the spins of Ni capping layers and the 57Fe x interlayer have been studied in Ni/57Fe x /Ni(1 1 1) films by magneto-optic-vector Kerr and Mossbauer spectroscopy. It was found that the magnetization direction of the Ni follows the orientation of that of the Fe, and that there is an unusual rotation of the magnetization from the in-plane to out-of-plane in the pseudomorphic range of the Fe growth. The effect of the competition between perpendicular surface anisotropy and the magnetostatic energy is discussed.