CEMS-study of the interface in Fe/Cr multilayer systems

The magnetic hyperfine (hf.) fields at the Fe/Cr interface were analyzed in epitaxial Fe/Cr thin film structures of (100)- and (110)-orientation with monolayer resolution by means of in-situ⁵⁷Fe Conversion Electron Mössbauer Spectroscopy (CEMS). The hf. field (300 K) in the 1st Fe-monolayer (ML) at the interface has been found to be strongly reduced to 22.0/20.9 T for (110)-/(100)-orientation, whereas the 2nd and 3rd ML reveal a slightly increased hf. field of 33.7 T as compared with the Fe-bulk value of 33.4 T. The temperature dependence of the hf. field at the interface shows aT ^3/2 spin wave law. The spin wave parameters are enlarged with respect to the bulk value indicating a reduced exchange interaction. A discontinuity in theT ^3/2-dependence is interpreted by the onset of magnetic order (Néel-temperature) of the Cr layers adjoining the⁵⁷Fe probe layer.