Published online by Cambridge University Press: 03 September 2012
An earlier theory of the exchange coupling between two ferromagnets separated by a nonmagnetic transition metal spacer was based on size quantization of the electron energies in the spacer. It is now generalized to include the effect of hybridization between the conduction and d bands both in the ferromagnet and in the spacer. The new theory thus unifies the approach based on coupling via d electrons, valid for transition metal spacers, with RKKY-type theories for noble and simple metals which rely on coupling via conduction electrons. The theory is applied to calculate the period and strength of the long-period oscillatory coupling in (001) CO/Cu trilayer.