The influence of germanium on exchange coupling in Fe/Si multilayers

Abstract The influence of germanium on antiferromagnetic (AF) exchange coupling in sputtered Fe/Si multilayers has been examined with the use of magnetic moment, Hall effect and Mossbauer spectroscopy measurements. We have found that substitution of Si by Ge led to a gradual vanishing of AF coupling depending not only on the thickness of the spacer layer that is composed of Si and Ge layers but also on interfacial mixing occurring between Fe and Si(Ge) layers during deposition process.