Electronic Structure and Magnetic Properties of Fe/Cr Superlattices

The electronic structure and magnetic properties of Fem/Crn (m=3, 4; n=1, 3, 4) superlattice were studied using the density functional full-potential linearized augmented plane-wave (FLAPW) method. The results showed that the ferromagnetic coupling existed for the adjacent Fe layers in the Fe3/Cr1 and Fe3/Cr3 superlattices and the antiferromagnetic coupling existed for Fe4/Cr4 superlattice in the ground state. The magnetic moments of Cr atoms changed direction from layer to layer, and an antiferromagnetic coupling between Fe and Cr at the interfacial layer could be observed.