Domain walls and exchange-interaction in Permalloy/Gd films

In this work we study the exchange coupling in Permalloy (Py)/gadolinium (Gd) bilayers. The exchange-coupled Py/Gd system is very temperature dependent and moreover the magnetization process in the Py layer is mainly due to domain wall (DW) displacements which are strongly controlled by pinning effects. We propose that this pinning could be caused by magnetostatic and exchange interactions between Py DWs and the magnetostrictive Gd layer. These effects mask the antiferromagnetic coupling between layers and, depending on temperature and Py thicknesses, apparent ferromagnetic coupling occurs. The study has been performed in the 80–300 K temperature range for different Py layer thicknesses and different Py induced anisotropies.