Abstract
We investigate the perpendicular interlayer coupling between Co/Pt multilayers and Co/TbCo bilayers through the Ru spacer with various thickness. The canting angles of the Tb and Co moments are determined by x-ray magnetic circular dichroism. We observe that the interlayer exchange coupling oscillates and aligns Co and Tb moments in opposite directions. As a consequence, the canting angles of the Tb and Co moments correlate with the strength of the interlayer coupling and agree with our theoretical calculations as well. The opposite alignment on the TbCo-sublattice magnetizations from the interlayer coupling cannot be viewed as an effective magnetic field and thus is unique with potential applications for spintronics devices. © 2009 The American Physical Society.