Multilayer samples of Ce/Fe and Ce/FeCoV, fabricated by sputtering
and characterized by means of x-ray diffraction and reflectivity, were
studied by 57Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy and polarized
neutron reflectivity. In the Ce/Fe system a paramagnetic Fe phase
is observed at room temperature for Fe thicknesses below 20 Å.
This phase is ordered at 4.2 K, and is attributed to amorphous Fe at
the interface with Ce. In contrast, the Ce/FeCoV system is
ferromagnetic at room temperature for all layer thicknesses studied.
From the relative intensity of the Mössbauer lines we show that
both systems exhibit a perpendicular magnetic anisotropy for
magnetic layers of less than 17 Å thickness, indicating a
positive interface anisotropy constant, KS. For a selection of
Ce/Fe samples, the reorientation of the magnetic moments in magnetic
fields applied normal to the layers enabled the magnetic anisotropy
energy Keff of each sample to be evaluated. The trend of the
values of Keff gave volume and interface anisotropy constants
KV = 1.1 (±1.2)×105 J m-3 and
KS = 0.98 (±0.15)×10-3 J m-2 for the
Ce/Fe system, where the positive values indicate a preference for an
out-of-plane orientation of the magnetization.