MICROSTRUCTURAL CHARACTERIZATION OF SPIN—VALVE MULTILAYERS BY X—RAY ANOMALYOUS DIFFRACTION TECHNIQUE

It is impossible to directly analyze the microstructure of spin-valve multilayers based on Ni,F,Cu and Mn by a conventional X-ray diffraction technique because the lattice parameter and atomic sattering factor sof them are very close.To solve this problem, we use an x-ray anomalous diffraction technique to characterize the microstructures of the Ni80Fe20/Fe50Mn50]15 and Ni80Fe20/Cu]15 superlattice systems.The results show that more diffraction peaks and higher internsity in the reflectivety profile are observed when the incident energy is close to the absorption edge of the lighter element(Mn) in Ni80Fe20/Fe50Mn50]15 multilayer systems and to the absorption edge of the heavier element (Cu) in the Ni80Fe20/Cu]15 multilayer systems.The interface and periodic structure of Ni80F20/Fe50Mn50]15 are more perfect than that of the Ni80Fe20/Cu]15 superlattices.The above results are disussed in this paper.