Volume: Page/Article: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Article Collection: View Collection Help (Click on the Check Box to add an article.) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Phys. Rev. B 46, 3391?3400 (1992) [Issue 6 ? 1 August 1992 ] [ Previous article | Next article | Issue 6 contents ] Add to article collection View Page Images or PDF (1396 kB) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Polarized neutron reflection as a probe of magnetic films and multilayers S. J. Blundell and J. A. C. Bland Cavendish Laboratory, Madingley Road, Cambridge, CB3 0HE, United Kingdom Received 16 December 1991 The application of polarized neutron reflection (PNR) to the study of the magnetic properties of thin films and multilayers is described. It is demonstrated that PNR provides a means of directly determining the magnetization-vector profile in multilayers of known layer thickness and layer density. Thus, the magnetization reversal process in these systems can be directly studied. A matrix method is presented which can be used to calculate the spin-dependent reflectivity from a multilayer with general in-plane orientation of the magnetic moment in each layer. In addition, we show that behavior of the spin asymmetry is dominated by multiple reflections and refraction just above the critical wave vector, but with increasing wave vector, such processes become progressively less important, and the response moves towards a ``diffraction limit'' in which a Fourier-transform approximation to the exact result can be used. The ideas in this paper are illustrated by a number of examples, including the exchange-biased structure Ag/Fe-Ni/Cu/Fe-Ni/Fe-Mn/Si. ©1992 The American Physical Society URL: http://link.aps.org/abstract/PRB/v46/p3391 DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.46.3391 PACS: 75.25.+z, 75.70.-i ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Add to article collection View Page Images or PDF (1396 kB) [ Previous article | Next article | Issue 6 contents ] ------------------------------------------------------------------------ References (Reference links marked with dot may require a separate subscription.) 1. P. Grünberg, R. Schreiber, Y. Pang, M. N. Brodsky and H. Sowers, Phys. Rev. Lett. 57, 2442 (1986) . 2. C. Carbone and S. F. Alvorado, Phys. Rev. B 36, 2433 (1987) . 3. J. Kwo, M. Hong, F. J. DiSalvo, J. V. Waszxzak and C. F. Majkrzak, Phys. Rev. B 35, 7295 (1987) . 4. D. Pescia, D. Kerkmann, F. Schumann and W. Gudat, Z. Phys. B 78, 475 (1990); S. S. P. Parkin, R. Bhadra and K. P. Roche, Phys. Rev. Lett. 66, 2152 (1991) . 5. S. S. P. Parkin, N. More and K. P. Roche, Phys. Rev. Lett. 64, 2304 (1990) . 6. D. M. Edwards and J. Mathon, J. Magn. Magn. Mater. 93, 85 (1991) [dot INSPEC ]; D. M. Edwards, J. Mathon, R. B. Muniz and M. S. Phan, Phys. Rev. Lett. 67, 493 (1991) . 7. M. N. Baibich, J. M. Broto, A. Fert, F. Nguyen van Dau, F. Petroff, P. Etienne, G. Creuzet, A. Friederich and J. Chazelas, Phys. Rev. Lett. 61, 2472 (1988) . 8. B. Dieny, V. S. Speriosu, S. S. Parkin, B. A. Gurney, D. R. Wilhoit and D. Mauri, Phys. Rev. B 43, 1297 (1991) . 9. J. A. C. Bland, D. Pescia and R. F. Willis, Phys. Rev. Lett. 58, 1244 (1987) ; D. Pescia, R. F. Willis, and J. A. C. Bland, Surf. Sci. 189, 724 (1987). 10. J. A. C. Bland, R. D. Bateson, A. D. Johnson, B. Heinrich, Z. Celinski and H. J. Lauter, J. Magn. Magn. Mater. 93, 331 (1991) [dot INSPEC ]. 11. J. A. C. Bland, R. D. Bateson, P. C. Riedi, R. G. Graham, H. J. Lauter, C. Shackleton and J. Penfold, J. Appl. Phys. 69, 4989 (1991) [dot INSPEC ]. 12. J. A. C. Bland, A. D. Johnson, H. J. Lauter, R. D. Bateson, S. J. Blundell, C. Shackleton and J. Penfold, J. Magn. Magn. Mater. 93, 513 (1991) [dot INSPEC ]. 13. S. S. P. Parkin, V. R. Deline, R. O. Hilleke, and G. P. Felcher, Phys. Rev. B 42, 10583 (1990). 14. J. A. C. Bland and R. F. Willis, in Thin Film Growth Techniques for Low Dimensional Structures, edited by R. F. C. Farrow, S. S. P. Parkin, P. J. Dobson, J. H. Neave, and A. S. Arrott (Plenum, New York, 1987). 15. P. Yeh, Optical Waves in Layered Media (Wiley, New York, 1988). ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Add to article collection View Page Images or PDF (1396 kB) [Show Articles Citing This One] Requires Subscription [ Previous article | Next article | Issue 6 contents ] ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [ APS | APS Journals | PROLA Homepage | Browse | Search ] E-mail: prola@aps.org