Structural Symmetry and Magnetoresistance in Epitaxial Fe/Ru/Co Multilayers

Abstract Magnetic and electrical properties are associated with the structural symmetry of the system. Recent spintronics finds various intriguing physics, such as spin orbit torque, skyrmions, and altermagnetism, rooted in structures with broken or low symmetry. In this work, we investigate epitaxial Fe/Ru/Co multilayers in which the crystalline orientations of the Fe and the Co layers are deliberately made different while they are antiferromagnetically coupled. These synthetic antiferromagnets exhibit resistance variations with the external field which are incomprehensible with conventional magnetoresistances. The results open a possible avenue for creating synthetic magnetism with controlled structural symmetries.