Profile of the induced5dmagnetic moments in Ce/Fe and La/Fe multilayers probed by x-ray magnetic-resonant scattering

Abstract

The element and electronic shell selectivity of x-ray resonant magnetic scattering ͑XRMS͒ has been used to investigate the profile of the spin polarization of the 5d electronic states of Ce and La across the rare-earth layers in Ce/Fe and La/Fe multilayers. The magnetic contributions to the diffracted intensities have been measured at low angles, at the L 2 edge of the rare earth. In agreement with previous results from x-ray magnetic circular dichroism ͑XMCD͒ experiments, the La 5d polarization is found to be localized right at the interfaces with the Fe layers, as it is expected from a direct hybridization with the Fe 3d states. In the case of Ce/Fe multilayers where Ce is in an ␣-like electronic state with a complex behavior of the 5d magnetic polarization, the XRMS results obtained for two samples with 10 and 22 Å thick Ce layers indicate that the Ce 5d polarization decreases slowly from the interfaces towards the center of the layers. This is in agreement with previous XMCD results. However, at least for the two samples which have been investigated, XRMS also suggests that the Ce 5d polarization oscillates across the Ce layer with a period equal to the ͑111͒ interplanar distance in ␣ fcc Ce. Though compatible with the XMCD findings, this oscillating behavior cannot be derived from its dependence on the Ce layer thickness because of the decrease of the magnetic polarization which prevents us from observing changes in the sign of the XMCD amplitude. ͓S0163-1829͑99͒04637-8͔ PHYSICAL REVIEW B 1 OCTOBER 1999-I VOLUME 60, NUMBER 13 PRB 60 0163-1829/99/60͑13͒/9662͑13͒/$15.00 9662

Antiferromagnetic dipolar ordering in[Co2MnGe∕V]Nmultilayers

“…By observing the difference in the specular reflectivity for the two magnetization directions parallel and antiparallel to the photon helicity of circularly polarized x-rays in an energy scan across the L 2,3 edge of a magnetic element, one can derive the magnetization profile of a ferromagnetic thin film. This has been demonstrated convincingly for [Co 2 MnGe/Au] 50 multilayers [182] and other systems [174,198,173]. Since in the [Co 2 MnGe/V] 20 multilayers under study here, we have two magnetic elements, the analysis for Mn and Co can be carried out separately.…”

Systematic theoretical study of the spin and orbital magnetic moments of4dand5dinterfaces with Fe films

“…Simultaneously, advances in synchrotron radiation instrumentation have made it possible to determine the electronic and magnetic properties of these systems in an element-specific way. X-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) in conjunction with the sum rules enables the separation of the spin and orbital contributions to the total magnetic moments [1] while complementary soft x-ray resonant magnetic scattering measurements can provide details about the layer dependence of the magnetic moments, periodicity of the magnetic domain structures, and roughness of the magnetic layers [2,3,4]. Developments of theoretical models which treat these magnetic systems have also been quite successful.…”

Depth-resolved magnetization distribution in ultra thin films by soft X-ray resonant magnetic reflectivity

“…The second one is the antiferromagnetic exchange interaction between Mn atoms. It is worth to note that SXRMR is not directly related to the magnetization but to the product of the magnetization with the concentration [10]. Hence, a change in the apparent magnetization could have its origin in a change of the concentration, not easily detectable by X-ray reflectivity on a 2.4 nm thick film.…”

“…In particular, by measuring the X-ray reflectivity, it is possible to probe the magnetic profile of a specific element across a thin magnetic film. Typically, X-ray resonant magnetic scattering is carried out by analyzing the energy dependence of the reflectivity at different incident angles or scattering vector values [10][11][12][13][14], whereas recently strong interest in the analysis of the angular dependence of the reflectivity has emerged [15][16][17][18][19]. This turns out to be particularly relevant in the soft X-ray range where the reflectivity, measured at large scattering angles, is sensitive to the out-of-plane magnetization [20].…”