Magnetic and Mössbauer studies of Fe/V multilayers

The structural and magnetic properties of rf-sputtered Fe/V multilayers with the elemental Fe and V layer thickness tFe = tV and with the structural modulation period A ranging from 2 nm to 24 nm have been studied by high-angle x-ray diffraction, vibrating-sample magnetometry and conversion-electron Mössbauer spectrometry methods at room temperature. The results show that the Fe/V interfaces are paramagnetic. The magnetic behaviour of the multilayers, hence, originates from the α-Fe at the centres of the individual subsystems and the iron-rich crystalline Fe(V) alloy lying near the interface. The spin orientation in the Fe layers is strongly aligned in the film plane. However, evidence for a weak perpendicular spin orientation associated with the magnetic topmost Fe layer is found.