Structure and Magnetism of Fe/Al Nanostructures Grown by Ion-Beam Sputtering

Abstract

Synchrotron based X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray reflectivity (XRR) were used to study the structural and magnetic properties of ion beam sputtered Fe/Al multilayer sample (MLS) as a function of annealing temperature. The structural studies show substantial intermixing between the layers which results in multilayer of complicated structures i.e. formation of thin intermixed FeAl layer at the interface during deposition, the nucleation and precipitation of disordered FeAl layer, and its subsequent growth to Fe3Al at higher temperature. The results were also supported by TEM measurements. Magnetization decreases with increase in temperature and Curie temperature (Tc) is found to be much less than that of bulk bcc Fe.