Recent experimental studies, using a photoemission electron microscope on a $\mathrm{Ni}∕\mathrm{Fe}∕\mathrm{Co}∕\mathrm{Cu}\left(100\right)$ system, found that the Fe layers at both the $\mathrm{Fe}∕\mathrm{Co}$ and $\mathrm{Fe}∕\mathrm{Ni}$ interfaces are ferromagnetically ordered, and that there is an oscillatory intercoupling between the Co and Ni layers across the Fe spacer. In the present paper we performed self-consistent ab initio calculations to determine the magnetic profile and the interlayer exchange coupling (IEC) in fcc $\mathrm{Ni}∕{\mathrm{Fe}}_n∕\mathrm{Co}\left(100\right)$ superlattices, for different thicknesses of the Fe spacer $(n=1–7)$. The compositional ordering at the $\mathrm{Fe}∕\mathrm{Co}$ and $\mathrm{Fe}∕\mathrm{Ni}$ interfaces leads to a completely different IEC behavior. Strong Fe-Ni(Co) ferromagnetic coupling with enhanced Fe magnetic moment are always obtained in the intermixed layers.

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