A Monte Carlo study of the magnetization reversal in DyFe2/YFe2 exchange-coupled superlattices

Abstract Monte Carlo simulations are used to perform an atomic scale modeling of the magnetic properties of epitaxial exchange-coupled DyFe 2 /YFe 2 superlattices. These samples, extremely well-researched experimentally, are constituted by a hard ferrimagnet DyFe 2 and a soft ferrimagnet YFe 2 antiferromagnetically coupled. Depending on the layers’ thickness and on the temperature, the field dependence of the magnetization depth profile is complex going from a unique giant ferromagnetic block to exchange spring behavior when the soft YFe 2 layers reverse for positive bias fields. In some particular conditions of temperature and layers׳ thicknesses, it can even be easier to reverse the hard thin DyFe 2 layers for positive fields, while the soft thick YFe 2 layers keep their magnetization along the field. In this work, we reproduce by Monte Carlo simulations hysteresis loops for the net and compound-specific magnetizations at different temperatures, and assess the quality of the results by a direct comparison to experimental hysteresis loops.