Tailoring the spin density waves in Fe/Cr multilayers by selective inclusion of Sn, V and Mn

The possibility of tailoring the spin density waves in Fe/Cr(0 0 1) multilayers through the selective inclusion of Sn, V and Mn monolayers is investigated with the density functional tight-binding linear muffin-tin orbital method in the generalized gradient approximation of the exchange and correlation potential. Despite the non-magnetic character of Sn and V when substituting Cr atoms located at the nodes, the modifications induced on the spin density waves are important due to the strong hybridization. In general we find that V modifies drastically the global features of the spin density waves leading to the onset of a magnetically dead region in the Cr spacer whereas Mn inserted at the nodes rather destroys the density wave working in favor of stabilizing the layered antiferromagnetic structure. The trends obtained are consistent with experimental data when available. Since both the magnetic profile and the position of the nodes at the spacer can be modified, the present results are relevant in the context of the spin-dependent transport through magnetic multilayers in which the magnetoresistance will vary if the scattering regions across the transport direction are modified.