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Abstract The magnetic properties of permalloy-based trilayers of the form Py 0.8 Cu 0.2 /Py 0.4 Cu 0.6 /Py/IrMn were studied as the spacer layer undergoes a paramagnetic to ferromagnetic phase transition. We find the coupling between the free Py 0.8 Cu 0.2 layer and the exchange bias pinned Py to be strongly temperature-dependent: there is negligible coupling above the Curie temperature of the Py 0.4 Cu 0.6 spacer layer, strong ferromagnetic coupling below that temperature, and a tunable coupling between these extremes. Polarized neutron reflectometry was used to measure the depth profile of the magnetic order in the system, allowing us to correlate the order parameter with the coupling strength. The thickness dependence shows that these are interface effects with an inverse relationship to thickness, and that there is a magnetic proximity effect that enhances the Curie temperature of the spacer layer with characteristic length scale of about 7 nm. As a demonstration of potential functionality of such a system, the structure is shown to spontaneously flip from the antiparallel to parallel magnetic configuration once the spacer layer has developed long-range magnetic order.