ABSTRACT
Ultrathin magnetic films have been studied and used in low-dimensional systems and materials employed in spintronics. This chapter focuses on the basic magnetic properties: magnetic anisotropy, exchange coupling, and exchange bias coupling. It deals with a general theoretical introduction, followed by most common experimental techniques, and a brief summary of important experimental studies, which played a crucial role in the development of magnetic nanostructures. The chapter describes the concept of free energy of magnetic anisotropy, starting from a phenomenological description satisfying the lattice symmetry requirement. It discusses the theory of bilinear exchange coupling using quantum well states in a normal metal spacer. The chapter explains interlayer exchange coupling in ferromagnetic films with a nonuniform orientation of magnetic moments. The energy of a ferromagnet depends on the orientation of the magnetic moment with respect to the crystalline axes and the shape of the ferromagnet.
