The Effect of the Constituent Metal Layer Thickness on the Microstructure and Magnetic Properties of Fe/Y Multilayers

✍ Scribed by Zhang, Z.S. ;Wang, Y.T. ;Yang, F. ;Pan, F.

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2000
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 191 KB
• Volume: 179
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0031-8965
• DOI: 10.1002/1521-396x(200005)179:1<237::aid-pssa237>3.0.co;2-n

✦ Synopsis

Fe/Y multilayers with various Fe and Y layer thickness were prepared by electron-beam vapor deposition. The effect of the constituent metal layer thickness on the microstructure and magnetic properties of the films was investigated by transmission electron microscopy, Rutherford backscattering, X-ray diffraction and vibrating-sample magnetometer. The experimental results showed that a magnetic transformation from the ferromagnetic to superparamagnetic state in the iron layers occurred with decreasing Fe layer thickness to 1.4 nm in the Fe/Y multilayers. The saturation magnetization of the multilayers reduced significantly with decreasing Fe layer thickness and increasing Y layer thickness. It was also found that the Y layer can grow in an f.c.c. structure when its thickness was less than 11 nm in the Fe/Y multilayers.