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Exploring the Magnetism of Ultra Thin 3d Transition Metal Films

<p>In this thesis the magnetic and structural properties of ultra-thin 3d transition metals films have been investigated, in particular Fe, Ni and Co films. X-ray Magnetic Circular Dichroism (XMCD) has provided element specific spin (m<sub>s</sub> ) and orbital (m<sub>l</sub> ) moments per atom by utilizing the magneto optic sum-rules. Element specific hysteresis curves have been measured by means of X-ray Resonant Magnetic Scattering (XRMS), and the local crystallographic structure has been investigated using Extended X-ray Absorption Fine Structure (EXAFS). </p><p>By performing XMCD on Fe/Ag(100) we observe a spin reorientation from in-plane to out-of-plane as the Fe thickness is lowered. At temperatures below 300K it occurs around 5-7 mono layers (ML) of Fe. While reorienting the magnetization out-of-plane the orbital moment increases with 125% but only a minor increase (5%) of the spin moment is observed. Extended X-ray Absorption Fine Structure (EXAFS) measurements indicate that films 6 ML and thicker have a bulk-like bcc structure. For the thin out-of-plane films, the local crystallographic structure is more complicated. </p><p>The spin reorientation of the Au/Co/Au tri-layer system has been studied as a function of temperature, Co layer and Au cap thickness. An unexpected behavior of the orbital moment upon spin reorientation is found in these systems. An ex-situ prepared sample shows a smooth spin reorientation from an in-plane to an out-of-plane easy magnetization direction as the temperature is lowered from 300K to 200K. In-situ prepared samples have also been investigated and a novel phase diagram has been identified. The Au/Co interface has been explored during the Au capping by means of photoemission measurements. </p><p>In the bi- and tri-layer system of Fe and Ni we have been able to manipulate the spin reorientation by varying the Fe and Ni thickness. A novel non-collinear interlayer exchange interaction for 3d ferro magnets in direct contact has been discovered for a set of samples. This exchange interaction is found to be strongly dependant on the preparation conditions.</p>

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA/oai:DiVA.org:uu-6836
Date January 2006
CreatorsAndersson, Cecilia
PublisherUppsala University, Department of Physics, Uppsala : Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis
Source SetsDiVA Archive at Upsalla University
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeDoctoral thesis, comprehensive summary, text
RelationDigital Comprehensive Summaries of Uppsala Dissertations from the Faculty of Science and Technology, 1651-6214 ; 175

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