title: Exchange bias as a probe of the incommensurate spin-density wave in epitaxial Fe/Cr(001).
abstract: We report clear multiple period oscillations in the temperature dependence of exchange bias in an Fe thin film exchange coupled to a neighboring Cr film. The oscillations arise due to an incommensurate spin-density wave in the Cr, with wave vector perpendicular to the Fe/Cr(001) interface. The exchange bias and coercivity allow for a determination of the extent of the thermally driven wavelength expansion, the (strain-suppressed) spin-flip transition temperature, and the Cr Néel temperature, which show a crossover from bulklike to finite-size behavior at a Cr thickness of approximately 1100 A. The data are consistent with a transition from a transverse to longitudinal wave on cooling.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, USA.
authors.forename: J S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Parker
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: K A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Steiner
authors.forename: P A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Crowell
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Leighton