Grazing incidence polarized neutron scattering in reflection geometry from nanolayered spintronic systems

This review summarizes recent experimental investigations using neutron scattering on layered nanomagnetic systems (accentuating my contribution), which have applications in spintronics also. Polarized neutron investigations of such artificially structured materials are basically done to understand the interplay between structure and magnetism confined within the nanometer scale that can be additionally depth-resolved. Details of the identification of buried domains and their nature of lateral and vertical correlations within the systems are important. A particularly interesting aspect that has emerged over the years is the capability to measure polarized neutron scattering in directions parallel and perpendicular to the applied field direction (which is also the quantization axis for neutron polarizations). This was added with the capability of measuring in specular as well as in off-specular geometry. Distorted wave Born approximation (DWBA) theory for neutrons has proved to be a remarkable development in the quantitative analysis of the scattering data measured simultaneously for specular and off-specular modes within the same framework. In particular, the depth and lateral distribution of the ferromagnetic spins relative to the interface within interlayer-coupled or exchange-coupled system has been extensive. For example, twisted magnetization state at interlayer coupled interfaces or intricacies of symmetric and asymmetric magnetization reversals along with suppression of training effect in exchange coupled system was microscopically identified using neutron scattering only. The investigation on the distribution of magnetic species within dilute ferromagnetic semiconductor superlattices, with low angle neutron scattering, has played a crucial role both from practical and fundamental research points of view.     

Magnetization distribution in magnetic films studied with Larmor-encoding

Additional information about the magnetization distribution in magnetic films is obtained with a 3D-polarimetry set-up. A pilot experiment was performed with the neutron polarization aligned perpendicular to the surface of a Fe-film in a magnetic field parallel to its surface. The Larmor-precession in the magnetic field between two current sheets was used to adjust the neutron polarization perpendicular to the sample surface. This new polarization-magnetization configuration was probed with a Fe-film in specular and off-specular scattering. The off-specular scattering is created by the magnetic domain structure of the Fe-film in remanence. The results of specular and off-specular scattering are reproduced by calculations for the configuration of the incoming neutron polarization parallel to the sample surface and the magnetic field and for the configuration of the incoming neutron polarization perpendicular to the sample surface and the magnetic field.     

Shining light on magnetic microstructures

The increasing interest in micro- and nano-magnetism requires new instruments to examine the collective behavior of laterally structured ferromagnetic (FM) thin films. We demonstrate the possibility to extend the established Bragg-MOKE technique, which measures the Kerr effect on off-specular diffracted polarized laser light to soft x-rays. The shorter wavelength, which allows investigating smaller structures, and the element selectivity of the resonant scattering make soft x-rays an attractive tool for studying patterned ferromagnetic heterostructures. We illustrate this technique on permalloy islands and on exchange biased iron islands on antiferromagnetic CoO as two model systems. The results so far are in agreement with other experimental techniques and show the feasibility of off-specular resonant magnetic soft x-ray scattering.     

Representation of data on off-specular neutron scattering

The off-specular neutron scattering has been considered. This process has been investigated using fixed-wavelength and time-of-flight reflectometers. The representation of the data obtained in different coordinates has been described and discussed.     

Quantification of magnetic domain disorder and correlations in antiferromagnetically coupled multilayers by neutron reflectometry

The in-plane correlation lengths and angular dispersion of magnetic domains in a transition metal multilayer have been studied using off-specular neutron reflectometry techniques. A theoretical framework considering both structural and magnetic disorder has been developed, quantitatively connecting the observed scattering to the in-plane correlation length and the dispersion of the local magnetization vector about the mean macroscopic direction. The antiferromagnetic domain structure is highly vertically correlated throughout the multilayer. We are easily able to relate the neutron determined magnetic domain dispersion to magnetization and magnetoresistance experiments.     

Microscopic characterization of corrosion morphology: A study in specular and diffuse neutron reflectivity

Detailed morphologies of the exposed surface of a Ni film vis-à-vis a buried interface below it have been determined by diffuse (off-specular) neutron scattering (DNS) and specular neutron reflectometry (NR). The exposed surface shows distinct morphological changes with respect to the buried interface, due to corrosion. The results demonstrate the strength of DNS in obtaining morphology of hidden interfaces and exposed surfaces simultaneously.     

Asymmetric magnetization reversal on exchange biased CoO/Co bilayers

We study magnetic hysteresis loops after field cooling of a CoO/Co bilayer by MOKE and polarized neutron reflectivity. The neutron scattering reveals that the first magnetization reversal after field cooling is dominated by domain wall movement, whereas all subsequent reversals proceed essentially by rotation of the magnetization. In addition, off-specular diffuse scattering indicates that the first magnetization reversal induces an irreversible change of the domain state in the antiferromagnet.     

Off-Specular Synchrotron Mössbauer Reflectometry: A Novel Tool for Studying the Domain Structure in Antiferromagnetic Multilayers

The off-specular (diffuse) nuclear resonant reflectivity of synchrotron radiation is a sensitive measure of the lateral autocorrelation of the magnetisation in thin films and multilayers. The width of the diffuse scattering peak measured at an electronically forbidden reflection is inversely proportional to the in-plane correlation length of the magnetisation direction. The average size of the in-plane antiferromagnetic domains is determined in different states of the same Fe/Cr superlattice. The hyperfine magnetic fields in coexisting small and large domains are measured independently. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Highlights from the magnetism reflectometer at the SNS

The magnetism reflectometer at the SNS has passed the phase of commissioning and is in operation for users. The high power of the neutron source demands that special attention be paid to the optimization of the background in order to be able to measure the two-dimensional maps of reflected and scattered intensities with polarized neutrons in a broad range of momentum transfer. It implies an effective separation of the magnetic and non-magnetic reflectivity, off-specular scattering and the grazing incidence SANS in a high range of momentum transfer. Therefore the polarizing and the analyzing efficiencies are of particular importance on this time-of-flight instrument. At the beginning of July 2008 the world's first ³He neutron analyzer with on-line pump-up polarization was successfully installed and the tests with a magnetic multilayer film showing a strong off-specular spin-flip scattering were made. The performance of the instrument is under constant improvement in order to make it an effective and optimal instrument for the applications in nanosciences.     

Estimation of the cross section of neutron scattering by spin waves in thin ferromagnetic layers

Inelastic neutron scattering by magnetic excitations in thin ferromagnetic films has not been observed so far owing to the small cross section of the interaction of neutrons with spin waves. To increase the probability of inelastic magnetic scattering, it has been proposed to implement three-layer structures in which the neutron wave functions exhibit resonant enhancement in a ferromagnetic layer. The cross section of neutron scattering by spin waves in the regime of the resonant enhancement of the neutron wave function has been estimated.     

Specular neutron reflectivity and beyond

A polarized neutron reflectometer for vertical samples is available at Dhruva reactor guide hall, Trombay. The reflectometer has been designed for horizontal scattering vector. It uses a position-sensitive detector for obtaining the reflectivity pattern. This arrangement allows one to obtain diffuse or off-specular intensity around any specular peak at one go. We have used this instrument for studying the structure of various metal-metal and metal-semiconductor multilayers by specular reflectometry. We have also been successful in understanding interface morphology of several films through diffuse neutron reflectometry (DNR) on this reflectometer. Some of the recent results are presented in this paper to demonstrate the strength of these two techniques.      

Combined neutron and synchrotron studies of magnetic films

We discuss specular reflectivity and off-specular scattering of neutrons and X-rays from magnetic films. Both these techniques are capable of providing information about the morphology of the chemical and magnetic roughness and the magnetic domain structure. The use of neutrons with polarization analysis enables the spatial distribution of different vector components of the magnetization to be determined, and the use of resonant magnetic X-ray scattering enables magnetization in a compound system to be determined element-selectively. Thus both these methods provide powerful and complementary new probes for studying magnetism at the nanoscopic level in a variety of systems such as those exhibiting exchange bias, giant magnetoresistance, spin injection, etc. We shall illustrate with an example of both techniques applied to an exchange bias system consisting of a single crystal of antiferromagnetic FeF₂ capped with a ferromagnetic Co film, and discuss what has been learned about how exchange bias works in such a system.     

Induced moment due to perpendicular field cycling in trained exchange bias system

Depth-sensitive polarized neutron scattering in specular and off-specular mode has recently revealed that perpendicular field cycling brings about a modification in the interfacial magnetization of a trained exchange coupled interface. We show here by various model fits to our neutron reflectivity data that a restoration of the untrained state is not possible in the case of our polycrystalline multilayer specimen. This is due a magnetic moment at the interface induced only after perpendicular field cycling, changing the initial field-cooled state.     

Structure and morphology of Cu/Ni film grown by electrodeposition method: A study of neutron reflectivity and AFM

We present detailed study of structure and interface morphology of an electrodeposited Cu/Ni film using X-ray diffraction, X-ray reflectivity, neutron reflectivity and atomic force microscopy (AFM) techniques. The crystalline structure of the film has been determined by X-ray diffraction, which suggest polycrystalline growth of the film. The depth profile of density in the sample has been obtained from specular X-ray and neutron reflectivity measurements. AFM image of the air-film interface shows that the surface is covered by globular islands of different sizes. The AFM height distribution of the surface clearly shows two peaks and the relief structure (islands) on the surface in the film, which can be treated as a quasi-two-level random rough surface structure. We have demonstrated that the detailed morphology of air-film interfaces, the quasi-two-level surface structure as well as morphology of the buried interfaces can be obtained from off-specular neutron reflectivity data. AFM and off-specular neutron reflectivity measurements also show that the morphologies of electrodeposited surface is distinctively different as compared to that of sputter-deposited surfaces in the sample.     

Spin-exchange dynamical structure factor of the S=1/2 Heisenberg chain

We determine the spin-exchange dynamical structure factor of the Heisenberg spin chain, as is measured by indirect resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (RIXS). We find that two-spin RIXS excitations nearly entirely fractionalize into two-spinon states. These share the same continuum lower bound as single-spin neutron scattering excitations, even if the relevant final states belong to orthogonal symmetry sectors. The RIXS spectral weight is mainly carried by higher-energy excitations, and is beyond the reach of the low-energy effective theories of Luttinger liquid type.     

On the Possibility of Observing the Effect of Anomalous Neutron Transmission in Predominantly Resonance Absorption by Perfect Crystals of InSb

Dynamic neutron diffraction on perfect InSb crystals is analyzed theoretically both under conditions of predominantly potential scattering and under conditions of predominantly resonant scattering. Attention is given primarily to the effect of anomalous neutron transmission. A project of an experiment aimed at studying this effect in predominantly resonant neutron scattering via a simultaneous detection of reflected and transmitted beams and secondary gamma rays is proposed. It is shown that such an experiment may be performed in beams from high-flow reactors.

     

Transverse and lateral structure of the spin-flop phase in fe/cr antiferromagnetic superlattices

Direct evidence of the nonuniformly canted state of the spin-flop phase induced by a magnetic field applied to Fe/Cr(100) superlattices is obtained by polarized neutron reflectometry. It is unambiguously demonstrated that the magnetization of the alternating Fe layers is twisted through the multilayer stack proving a stable noncollinear configuration. The maximal tilt at the end layers progressively reduces towards the center of the multilayer. The set of tilt angles is deduced from a model-free data evaluation employing the supermatrix routine. Spin-flip off-specular scattering is determined by the in-plane magnetization fluctuations and is fitted by a theoretical model of domains.     

In-plane correlations in a polymer-supported lipid membrane measured by off-specular neutron scattering

Polymer-supported single lipid bilayers are models to study configurations of cell membranes. We used off-specular neutron scattering to quantify in-plane height-height correlations of interfacial fluctuations of such a lipid bilayer. As temperature decreased from 37 °C to 25 °C, the polymer swells and the polymer-supported lipid membrane deviates from its initially nearly planar structure. A correlation length characteristic of capillary waves changes from 30 μm at 37 °C to 11 μm at 25 °C, while the membrane bending rigidity remains roughly constant in this temperature range.     

Magnetization Reversal Studies of Magnetic Wire Arrays by Polarized Neutron Scattering

Polarized neutron reflectivity has been used to investigate the peak pattern and the magnetization reversal process of laterally structured Fe- and CoFe-films. The peak pattern of the wire arrays was analyzed in the specular as well as in the off-specular regime. The intensities of the different cross-sections at the off-specular first-order peak were investigated as a function of external magnetic field. Magnetization reversals are discussed and compared to MOKE studies of the same system.     

Doping dependence of bilayer resonant spin excitations in (Y, Ca)Ba2Cu3O6+x

Resonant magnetic modes with odd and even symmetries were studied by inelastic neutron scattering experiments in the bilayer high-Tc superconductor Y1-xCa+Ba2Cu3O6+y over a wide doping range. The threshold of the spin excitation continuum in the superconducting state, deduced from the energies and spectral weights of both modes, is compared with the superconducting d-wave gap, deduced from electronic Raman scattering in the B1g symmetry on the same samples. Above a critical doping level of delta approximately =0.19, both mode energies and the continuum threshold coincide. We find a simple scaling relationship between the characteristic energies and spectral weights of both modes, which indicates that the resonant modes are bound states in the superconducting energy gap, as predicted by the spin-exciton model of the resonant mode.