Temperature- and magnetic field-induced magnetic structural changes in the Fe₃Si/FeSi₂ superlattice

Abstract Artificial lattices with semiconductor spacers are expected to exhibit changes in their magnetic structure owing to the control of their electronic states. The temperature (T) and magnetic-field (H ext) dependence of the in-plane magnetic structure of an [Fe3Si/FeSi2]20 superlattice with a nonmagnetic and semiconducting FeSi2 spacer layer is investigated using magnetization and polarized neutron reflectivity measurements. When H ext = 5 mT, nearly collinear antiferromagnetic (AF) structures are observed from 4 to 298 K. When H ext = 1 T, field-induced fan-like, noncollinear AF structures showing ferromagnetic components along H ext and transverse AF components are observed at low T.