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The primary focus of this thesis is to study the effect of doping on magnetic properties in amorphous Fe100−xZrx alloys. Samples with compositions of x = 7,11.6 and 12 at.% were implanted with different concentrations of H. Moreover, the samples with a composition of x = 7 at.% were also implanted with He, B, C and N. Magnetic measurements were performed, using SQUID magnetometry and MOKE, in order to compare the as-grown and the implanted films. The Curie temperature (Tc) increases and the coercivity (Hc) decreases, with increasing dopant volume. We also found that Hc increases with temperature for B and C doped samples. Magnetization curves at low temperature validate the presence of non-collinear spin configurations in the as-grown films, which is suppressed after doping, resulting in films with tunable soft magnetic properties. We have also studied the effect of interlayer mixing and finite size effects on FeZr in Fe92Zr8/AlZr multilayer films, and found an anomalous increase of Tc with decreasing thickness. Strain induced changes in the magnetization of an amorphous Co95Zr5 film at the orthorhombic phase transition of the BaTiO3 substrate, was also studied. The results show that structural modifications of the substrate increases the stress and hence changes the magnetic anisotropy in the amorphous Co95Zr5 layer. Finally, the magnetization reversal of Co and CoX heterostructures, with X being Cr, Fe, Ni, Pd, Pt and Ru, has been studied. For this purpose a synthetic antiferromagnet structure, FM/NM/FM, was used, where FM is a ferromagnetic Co or CoX layer and NM is a nonmagnetic Ru spacer layer. The FM layers are coupled antiferromagnetically across the NM layer. For a range of FM layer thicknesses, the exchange stiffness parameter Aex and the interlayer coupling (JRKKY ) of the Co or CoX layers were obtained. This is done by fitting M(H) curves, measured by SQUID magnetometry, to a micromagnetic model. The alloying in CoX resulted in a decreasing Aex and also a reduced MS. The experimental results are in a good agreement with DFT calculations.

The scope of this thesis is the study of the interplay between structure and magnetism in amorphous materials. The investigations focus on the growth of amorphous layers and the study of the influence of structural disorder and reduced physical extension on the magnetic properties of thin films and multilayers. The examined magnetic materials are FeZr alloys, as well as other amorphous transition metal alloys such as CoZr and FeCoZr. Thin films and multilayers of the studied materials were deposited using magnetron sputtering in ultra-high vacuum conditions. Their amorphous structure and layering quality was investigated using X-ray scattering techniques and in several cases with transmission electron microscopy. The chemical composition of the alloys was determined with Rutherford Backscattering Spectrometry. The magnetic properties were investigated using the magneto-optic Kerr effect and SQUID magnetometry, as well as polarized neutron reflectometry and X-ray magnetic circular dicroism measurements. For FeZr alloys deposited as multilayers with Al2O3 as spacer layer, it was found that Fe-rich nanocrystallites, formed at the metal/oxide interfaces, exert large influence on the magnetic properties. The use of AlZr alloys as buffer layers promotes the growth of highly amorphous FeZr layers. FeZr/AlZr multilayers with good layering quality can also be obtained. The influence of the reduced layer thickness on the magnetic moment, Curie temperature and magnetic dimensionality of the magnetic layers is addressed for FeZr/AlZr multilayers. Thin FeZr layers in these structures are found to belong to the 2D XY dimensionality class. The change of the magnetic moment and Curie temperature with reduced FeZr layer thickness is quantified. In addition, the induced magnetic moment in the alloy element Zr was investigated in FeZr and CoZr alloy films. The possibility to imprint a preferred magnetization direction during thin film preparation was demonstrated for FeCoZr layers. Lastly, AlZr alloy films were studied with respect to their oxidation stability at room and elevated temperatures, aiming towards development of materials with passivating properties.