Exchange stiffness in thin film Co alloys

The exchange stiffness (Aex) is one of the key parameters controlling magnetization reversal in magnetic materials. We used a method based on the spin spiral formation in two ferromagnetic films antiferromagnetically coupled across a non-magnetic spacer layer and Brillouin scattering to measure Aex for a series of Co1-δXδ (X = Cr, Ni, Ru, Pd, Pt) thin film alloys. The results show that Aex of Co alloys does not necessarily scale with Ms; Aex approximately decreases at the rate of 1.1%, 1.5%, 2.1%, 3.5%, and 5.6%, while Ms decreases at the rate of 1.1%, 0.5%, 1.1%, 3.7%, and 2.5% per addition of 1 at % of Pt, Ni, Pd, Cr, and Ru, respectively.