Observation and computer simulation of magnetization processes in exchange-coupled Sm/CoZr/SmCo' sandwiches

Abstract In a SmCo/CoZr/SmCo' sandwich system consisting of two magnetically hard external layers with different coercivities and of a soft central layer, a configuration can be stabilized with the magnetic moments of the SmCo layers pointing in opposite directions. In this state, the magnetization processes in the central layer are nearly reversible and the susceptibility is found to depend on the layer thickness. This behaviour can be understood in terms of the formation of a mobile Bloch wall in the central layer and has been simulated numerically by means of a simple one-dimensional model.