Interface alloying at Fe/Cr interfaces and its role in exchange coupling, angular resolved Auger electron, magneto-optic Kerr effect, and Brillouin light scattering studies (invited)

Angular resolved Auger electron studies were carried out for Fe whisker/Cr(001) interfaces which were prepared at 100, 180, 246, and 296 °C. The Cr atoms penetrate progressively into the second (counting from the surface) atomic layer at 100, 180, and 246 °C. At 296 °C the Cr atoms enter the third atomic layer. No noticeable fraction of the Cr atoms was found in the fourth atomic layer. The exchange coupling was studied in Fe whisker/Cr/Fe(001) films which were grown in a nearly perfect layer by layer mode. Magneto-optic Kerr effect and Brillouin light scattering measurements showed that the measured change in the phase of the short wavelength oscillations, the presence of a slowly varying exchange coupling bias, and the small measured values of exchange coupling are caused by the same mechanism: interface alloying. The exchange coupling in Fe whisker/Cr/nFe specimens, for n=10, 20, 30, and 40 ML, showed no obvious dependence on the Fe layer thickness.