Abstract
The microscopic magnetic structures of coherent, single-crystal epitaxially grown superlattices consisting of successive bilayers of N Gd basal planes of hexagonal-close-packed Gd followed by N Y such atomic planes of nonmagnetic Y have been studied by polarized neutron diffraction. It has been found that for N Gd =10, either a simple parallel alignment of the ferromagnetic Gd layers or an antiphase domain structure occurs, depending on the number of intervening Y planes in an oscillatory manner. These data are consistent with a RKKY coupling mechanism between Gd layers. In addition to the investigation of the interlayer interactions, measurements of the magnetization profile across the thickness of a Gd layer have been performed.