No Arabic abstract
The resonant magnetic reflectivity of Co/Mg multilayers around the Co L2,3 absorption edge is simulated then measured on a specifically designed sample. The dichroic signal is obtained when making the difference between the two reflectivities measured with the magnetic field applied in two opposite directions parallel to the sample surface. The simulations show that the existence of magnetic dead layers at the interfaces between the Co and Mg layers leads to an important increase of the dichroic signal measured in the vicinity of the third Bragg peak that otherwise should be negligible. The measurements are in agreement with the model introducing 0.25 nm thick dead layers. This is attributed to the Co atoms in contact with the Mg layers and thus we conclude that the Co-Mg interfaces are abrupt from the magnetic point of view.
We study the introduction of a third material, namely Zr, within a nanometric periodic Mg/Co structure designed to work as optical component in the extreme UV (EUV) spectral range. Mg/Co, Mg/Zr/Co, Mg/Co/Zr and Mg/Zr/Co/Zr multilayers are designed, then characterized in terms of structural quality and optical performances through X-ray and EUV reflectometry measurements respectively. For the Mg/Co/Zr structure, the reflectance value is equal to 50% at 25.1 nm and 45deg of grazing incidence and reaches 51.3% upon annealing at 200deg C. Measured EUV reflectivity values of tri-layered systems are discussed in terms of material order within a period and compared to the predictions of the theoretical model of Larruquert. Possible applications are pointed out.
We present x-ray resonant magnetic reflectivity (XRMR) as a very sensitive tool to detect proximity induced interface spin polarization in Pt/Fe, Pt/Ni$_{33}$Fe$_{67}$, Pt/Ni$_{81}$Fe$_{19}$ (permalloy), and Pt/Ni bilayers. We demonstrate that a detailed analysis of the reflected x-ray intensity gives insight in the spatial distribution of the spin polarization of a non-magnetic metal across the interface to a ferromagnetic layer. The evaluation of the experimental results with simulations based on optical data from ab initio calculations provides the induced magnetic moment per Pt atom in the spin polarized volume adjacent to the ferromagnet. We find the largest spin polarization in Pt/Fe and a much smaller magnetic proximity effect in Pt/Ni. Additional XRMR experiments with varying photon energy are in good agreement with the theoretical predictions for the energy dependence of the magnetooptic parameters and allow identifying the optical dispersion $delta$ and absorption $beta$ across the Pt L3-absorption edge.
We present the results of the characterization of Mg/Co periodic multilayers and their thermal stability for the EUV range. The annealing study is performed up to a temperature of 400degree C. Images obtained by scanning transmission electron microscopy and electron energy loss spectroscopy clearly show the good quality of the multilayer structure. The measurements of the EUV reflectivity around 25 nm (~49 eV) indicate that the reflectivity decreases when the annealing temperature increases above 300degreeC. X-ray emission spectroscopy is performed to determine the chemical state of the Mg atoms within the Mg/Co multilayer. Nuclear magnetic resonance used to determine the chemical state of the Co atoms and scanning electron microscopy images of cross sections of the Mg/Co multilayers reveal changes in the morphology of the stack from an annealing temperature of 305degreee;C. This explains the observed reflectivity loss.
Co$_2$FeSi(100) films with L2$_1$ structure deposited onto MgO(100) were studied exploiting both longitudinal (LMOKE) and quadratic (QMOKE) magneto-optical Kerr effect. The films exhibit a huge QMOKE signal with a maximum contribution of up to 30 mdeg, which is the largest QMOKE signal in reflection that has been measured thus far. This large value is a fingerprint of an exceptionally large spin-orbit coupling of second or higher order. The Co$_2$FeSi(100) films exhibit a rather large coercivity of 350 and 70 Oe for film thicknesses of 22 and 98 nm, respectively. Despite the fact that the films are epitaxial, they do not provide an angular dependence of the anisotropy and the remanence in excess of 1% and 2%, respectively.
We examined the photo-induced dynamics of ferromagnetic Co/Pt thin films demonstrating perpendicular magnetic anisotropy with element specificity using resonant polar magneto-optical Kerr effect measurements at Pt~N${}_{6,7}$ and Co~M${}_{2,3}$ edges with an x-ray free electron laser. The obtained results showed a clear element dependence of photo-induced demagnetization time scales: $tau_textrm{demag.}^textrm{Co}=80pm60~textrm{fs}$ and $tau_textrm{demag.}^textrm{Pt}=640pm140~textrm{fs}$. This dependence is explained by the induced moment of the Pt atom by current flow from the Co layer through the interfaces. The observed magnetization dynamics of Co and Pt can be attributed to the characteristics of photo-induced Co/Pt thin film phenomena including all-optical switching.