Field-induced spin-reorientation transitions in magnetic superlattices with uniaxial anisotropy and biquadratic exchange

Phase transitions induced by an external field are investigated in magnetic multilayer systems with uniaxial anisotropy and biquadratic exchange. A magnetic field directed perpendicular to the plane of the layers changes the effective anisotropy and exchange constants, determining the orientation of the magnetization in the plane of the layers, and can give rise to spin-reorientation transitions. All possible types of such transitions are investigated for the case of uniaxial anisotropy, which differs substantially from the case of cubic anisotropy by the different renormalization of the effective anisotropy constants. (C) 1999 American Institute of Physics. [S1063-7834(99)01803-1].