Direct Evidence of Anomalous Interfacial Magnetization in Metamagnetic Pd doped FeRh Thin Films

Abstract

Palladium doped iron rhodium is a magnetic material of significant interest for it's close to room temperature magnetostructural phase transition from antiferromagnetic (AF) to ferromagnetic (FM) ordering. Here we report on the peculiarities of the magnetization distribution in thin films of FeRh(Pd) probed by Polarized Neutron Reflectometry. Remarkably, we've found thin interfacial regions with strong magnetization that have unique thermomagnetic properties as compared to the rest of the system. These regions exist at the top and bottom interfaces of the films while the central regions behave similarly to the bulk with a clear AF-FM order transition. Further we explore the impact of an additional Pt interlayer introduced in the middle of the FeRh(Pd) film and reveal that it serves to replicate the strong interfacial magnetization found at the top and bottom interfaces. These results are of great value both in understanding the fundamental physics of such an order transition, and in considering FeRh(Pd) for magnetic media and spintronics applications.