Soft-x-ray emission study of Fe/V (001) superlattices

We have studied the electronic structure of the interfaces in bct Fe/V (001) superlattices (SL’s) grown on MgO(001) with soft-x-ray emission spectroscopy. Two samples with different thicknesses of Fe and V were investigated: [(V${)}_2$/(Fe${)}_5$ ${]}_{60}$ and [(V${)}_5$/(Fe${)}_2$ ${]}_{60}$. The samples were characterized by x-ray diffraction showing high-quality interfaces. Our x-ray L-emission spectra of Fe and V show that the 3d bands are considerably narrowed for the [(V${)}_5$/(Fe${)}_2$ ${]}_{60}$ SL, which is in agreement with first-principles band-structure calculations. Superconducting quantum interference device measurements for the [(V${)}_5$/(Fe${)}_2$ ${]}_{60}$ SL reveal that the total magnetic moment is only 0.65${\mathrm{\mu }}_{\mathit{B}}$ and the Curie temperature is about ∼200 K, whereas the [(V${)}_2$/(Fe${)}_5$ ${]}_{60}$ SL shows magnetic properties consistent with bulklike iron layers. © 1996 The American Physical Society.