Journal of Applied Physics -- May 1, 2000 -- Volume 87, Issue 9 pp. 5443-5448 

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Neutron scattering on magnetic thin films: Pushing the limits (invited)

       A. Schreyer, T. Schmitte, R. Siebrecht, P. Bödeker, and H. Zabel 
       Institut für Experimentalphysik/Festkörperphysik, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, D-44780 Bochum, Germany 

       S. H. Lee, R. W. Erwin, and C. F. Majkrzak 
       National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899 

       J. Kwo and M. Hong 
       Lucent Technologies, Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill, New Jersey 07974 

Neutron scattering has been the scattering technique of choice for the analysis of magnetic structures and their dynamics for many decades. The advent of magnetic thin film
systems has posed new challenges since such samples have inherently small scattering volumes. By way of examples, recent progress in the application of neutron scattering
for the study of both magnetic structure and dynamics in magnetic thin film systems will be presented. First, a combined high angle neutron scattering and polarized neutron
reflectivity investigation of the magnetic order of Cr and its influence on the exchange coupling between the Fe layers in Fe/Cr superlattices is discussed. It is shown that in
the whole thickness range up to 3000 Å, the magnetic structure is governed by frustration effects at the Fe/Cr interfaces. Second, it is demonstrated that it is now possible to
investigate the dynamic properties of magnetic thin films with neutron scattering. Unlike, e.g., Brillouin light scattering, inelastic neutron scattering provides access to large
portions of the Brillouin zone. First results on spin wave excitations in a Dy/Y superlattice are presented. ©2000 American Institute of Physics. 

PII: S0021-8979(00)92908-6 
DOI: 10.1063/1.373367 
PACS: 75.70.Cn, 75.25.+z, 75.30.Ds, 75.40.Gb