Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
1801380 | Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials | 2010 | 4 Pages |
Abstract
Dimensionality effects on epitaxial and polycrystalline Cr1âxRux alloy thin films and in Cr/Cr-Ru heterostructures are reported. X-ray analysis on Cr0.9965Ru0.0035 epitaxial films indicates an increase in the coherence length in growth directions (1 0 0) and (1 1 0) with increasing thickness (d), in the range 20â¤dâ¤300 nm. Atomic force microscopy studies on these films shows pronounced vertical growth for d>50 nm, resulting in the formation of columnar structures. The Néel temperatures (TN) of the Cr0.9965Ru0.0035 films show anomalous behaviour as a function of d at thickness dâ50 nm. It is interesting to note that this thickness corresponds to that for which a change in film morphology occurs. Experiments on epitaxial Cr1âxRux thin films, with 0â¤xâ¤0.013 and d=50 nm, give TN-x curves that correspond well with that of bulk Cr1âxRux alloys. Studies on Cr/Cr0.9965Ru0.0035 superlattices prepared on MgO(1 0 0), with the Cr layer thickness varied between 10 and 50 nm, keeping the Cr0.9965Ru0.0035 thickness constant at 10 nm, indicate a sharp decrease in TN as the Cr separation layers reaches a thickness of 30 nm; ascribed to spin density wave pinning in the Cr layers for d<30 nm by the adjacent CrRu layers.
Related Topics
Physical Sciences and Engineering
Physics and Astronomy
Condensed Matter Physics
Authors
A.R.E. Prinsloo, H.A. Derrett, O. Hellwig, E.E. Fullerton, H.L. Alberts, N. van den Berg,