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

Document Type

Article

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.