Depth-Dependent Magnetization Profiles of Hybrid Exchange Springs

Magnetic anisotropy is a central concept in spintronics, and while in-plane and perpendicular anisotropies dominate discussion, an arbitrarily tilted anisotropy would allow greater flexibility in designing magnetic storage and logic technologies. The authors directly measure the magnetization tilt angle in a so-called ``exchange spring'', and tune the angle by exploiting the system's competing anisotropies. This level of understanding is a significant step in developing e.g. spin transfer torque MRAM and spin torque oscillators.