Finite size effects with variable range exchange coupling in thin-film Pd/Fe/Pd trilayers

The magnetic properties of thin-film Pd/Fe/Pd trilayers in which an embedded similar to 1.5 angstrom-thick ultrathin layer of Fe induces ferromagnetism in the surrounding Pd have been investigated. The thickness of the ferromagnetic trilayer is controlled by varying the thickness of the top Pd layer over a range from 8 to 56 angstrom. As the thickness of the top Pd layer decreases, or equivalently as the embedded Fe layer moves closer to the top surface, the saturated magnetization normalized to area and the Curie temperature decreases, where as the coercivity increases. These thickness-dependent observations for proximity polarized thin-film Pd are qualitatively consistent with finite size effects that are well known for regular thin-film ferromagnets. The critical exponent beta of the order parameter (magnetization) is found to approach the mean field value of 0.5 as the thickness of the top Pd layer increases. The functional forms for the thickness dependences, which are strongly modified by the nonuniform exchange interaction in the polarized Pd, provide important new insights to understand nanomagnetism in two-dimensions. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.