Magnetic properties and structure of Fe/Al multilayered films prepared by ion-beam sputtering

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Abstract
Fe/Al multilayered films with the thicknesses of the Fe and Al layers (δFe and δAl) below 300 Å have been prepared by means of an ion-beam sputtering method, and the dependence of their crystal structure and magnetic properties on δFe and δAl has been investigated. The saturation magnetization 4πMs and the coercivity Hc of the multilayered films decreased monotonically and the d(110) spacing of α-Fe crystallites in the Fe layers increased as δFe decreased in the range below 100 Å for δAl of 20 Å. Such an increase in d spacing was removed substantially by annealing at 300 °C in vacuum. The x-ray diffractometry of the multilayered films with δFe of 100 Å and δAl below 15 Å indicated only the (200) orientation of α-Fe crystallites. In the range of δAl from 20 to 15 Å the preferentially oriented plane of Fe crystallites changed from (110) to (200) and Hc took a minimum value lower than 4 Oe. These results might be attributed to the alternate epitaxial growth at the interfaces between the Fe and Al layers.

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