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Soft X-ray resonant magnetic scattering from a Ni layer with modulated magnetic anisotropy

J. Synchrotron Rad. (2004). 11, 254–260 [doi:10.1107/S0909049504004868]

[scattered intensity plot]2D plot of the photon energy- and scattering vector qx-dependence of the scattered intensity measured by rocking scans with 2Θ = 10º across the Ni L2,3 resonance of the magnetically modulated Cu/Ni/Cu.
Structural and magnetic characterization of a magnetically modulated, but nominally chemically homogenous, 5 nm Ni layer in a Cu/Ni/Cu thin film system was performed using specular reflection and rocking scans in X-ray resonant magnetic scattering, probing the scattering vector components in the perpendicular and in-plane direction to the Ni wires, respectively. Using polarized soft X-rays at the Ni L2,3 resonance energy the measured magnetic scattering intensity reveals the magnetic modulation of the Ni layer. The results demonstrate the large potential of this element-specific scattering technique to study such complex magnetic structures in artificially patterned samples.
A. Haznar, G. van der Laan, S. P. Collins, C. A. F. Vaz, J. A. C. Bland and S. S. Dhesi