Depth-dependent chemical and magnetic local orders in thin magnetic films

Abstract

The authors report on the use of x-ray absorption spectroscopy with resolved grazing incidence to clarify the thickness-dependent magnetic properties in nanometric CoPt films. They show that in the thinnest samples the chemical order that induces the perpendicular magnetic anisotropy has no depth dependence. However, in the thicker samples the chemical order is depth dependent along the film thickness, with a disordered layer close to the substrate. The ability of the experimental approach to address the depth dependence of the local structural parameters makes it a unique tool, suitable for nanometric structure where this dependence is an important problem. © 2006 American Institute of Physics.