title: Domain-wall induced coupling between ferromagnetic layers
abstract: The remanent magnetization of a hard ferromagnetic CoPtCr layer is progressively decreased by repeated switching of a neighboring soft magnetic layer. We show that this effect depends strongly on the thickness of the CoPtCr layer and the spacing between the hard and soft layers. We propose a model that accounts for these results: An interlayer magnetostatic coupling is induced by large stray fields from domain walls that form within the soft layer during its magnetization reversal.
authors.affiliation: IBM Research Division, Almaden Research Center, San Jose, California 95120-6099, USA.
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Thomas
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Samant
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Parkin