Interface alloying and magnetic properties of Fe/Rh multilayers

Authors

K. Hanisch, Laboratorium fir Angewandte Physik, Universitat Duisburg, Germany
W. Keune, Laboratorium fir Angewandte Physik, Universitat Duisburg, Germany
R.A. Brand, Laboratorium fir Angewandte Physik, Universitat Duisburg, Germany
Christian Binek, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Wolfman Kleemann, Laboratorium fir Angewandte Physik, Universitat Duisburg, GermanyFollow

Date of this Version

11-15-1994

Comments

Published by American Institute of Physics. Copyright 1994. Permission to use. J. Appl. Phys. 76 (1994) 6528. http://www.jap.aip.org.

Abstract

Rh(20 Å)/⁵⁷Fe(t_Fe) multilayers with Fe thicknesses t_Fe of 2, 5, 10, and 15 Å prepared by alternate evaporation in UHV have been investigated by x-ray diffraction (XRD), Mössbauer spectroscopy, and SQUID magnetometry. First- and second-order superstructure Bragg peaks (but no higher-order peaks) in small-angle XRD patterns suggest some compositional modulation. Mössbauer spectra taken at 4.2 K are characterized by a distribution P(B_hf) of hyperfine fields B_hf. Peaks observed in the P(B_hf) curves near 17 and 35 T are assigned to an fcc-RhFe interface alloy (~7–24 at. % Fe) with spin-glasslike properties and to a disordered ferromagnetic bcc-FeRh alloy (~96 at. % Fe), respectively. The magnetic transition temperature of the fcc alloy was found to be 23 and 45 K for t_Fe=2 and 5 Å, respectively, and B_hf follows a T3/2 law. For t_Fe=2 Å, spin-glasslike behavior was observed by magnetometry. Journal of Applied Physics is copyrighted by The American Institute of Physics.