Magnetic properties of fcc iron in Fe/fcc metal multilayers

Vapor-deposition technique was employed to grow the fee iron in the Fe/Cu, Fe/Pd and Fe/Pt multilayers. The thickness, periodicity, chemical compositi on, microstructure, and magnetic properties of the films were characterized and measured by various methods. The experimental results indicated that, when the Fe layers were thinner than 2-3 nm, the Fe atoms could grow in the fee structure on the polycrystalline fee non-magnetic metal layers with a fixed thickness of 6.5-7.5 nm. The fee Fe in the Fe/fcc metal multilayers e xhibited ferromagnetic behavior, and its magnetic moment can be as high as 3.4 mu(B), for Fe(1.2 nm)/Cu(7.5 nm), 3.2 mu(B) for Fe(1.6 nm)/Pd(6.5 nm), and 2.1 mu(B), for Fe(2.3 nm)/Pt(7.0 nm), respectively. The modification of magnetic properties of fee Fe was attributed to a significant change in th e distance among Fe atoms in the fee lattice, resulting in a considerable c hanging in electron-couple, compared with that in the normal Fe-bcc structu re. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.