  Understanding the Gilbert damping in exchange-coupled multilayer materials is
particularly important to develop future fast switching spintronics devices.
Here, we report an experimental investigation of temperature-dependent Gilbert
damping in [Co/Pd]n/Py multilayer films of varying the number of Co/Pd
repetitions by ferromagnetic resonance. The results demonstrate that three
independent contributions to the Gilbert damping are identified, namely the
intrinsic Gilbert damping, the inhomogeneous linewidth broadening and the
two-magnon scattering contribution. Of particular interest, the two-magnon
scattering intensity increases as the enlargement of number repetitions of
Co/Pd due to the larger pinning effect at the interface between Py and the
Co/Pd layers. The Gilbert damping increases monotonically as the temperature
decreases from 300K to 50K. Our findings open the door to comprehend the
physical origin of the Gilbert damping in ultrathin exchange-coupled multilayer
films.

Applied Physics