Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on X-Ray Absorption Fine Structure

J. Phys. IV France 7 (1997) C2-401-C2-403
DOI: 10.1051/jp4/1997029

Structure and Magnetism of Pd in Pd/Fe Multilayers Studied by XMCD at the Pd L_2,3 Edges

J. Vogel¹, A. Fontaine¹, V. Cros², F. Petroff², J.P. Kappler³, G. Krill⁴, A. Rogalev⁵ and J. Goulon<sup>6

1</sup>  Laboratoire de magnétisme Louis Néel, CNRS, BP. 166, 38042 Grenoble, France
²  Unité mixte CNRS-Thomson CSF, Domaine de Corbeville, 91404 Orsay France
³  IPCMS-GEMME, 23 rue du Loess, 67037 Strasbourg, France
⁴  Laboratoire pour l'Utilisation du Rayonnement Electromagnétique, Bât. 209D 91405 Orsay France
⁵  European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF), BP. 220, 38043 Grenoble cedex France
⁶  European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF), BP. 220, 38043 Grenoble cedex, France

Abstract
We have measured the L_2,3 absorption edges of Pd in Pd/Fe multilayers with different Pd interlayer thicknesses. The spectral features observed after the L₃ and L₂ white lines indicate that in the atomic layer adjacent to Fe the Pd atoms have a local structure different from fee. The hybridization of the Pd 4d states with the Fe 3d band leads to a small increase in the number of Pd 4d electrons. X-ray Magnetic Circular Dichroism (XMCD) measurements show that the Pd atoms directly at the interface are strongly polarized with a total moment of 0.38 µ_B/atom. The orbital moments are found to be small (0.0-0.04 µ_B). The thickness dependence of the XMCD shows that Pd atoms carry a magnetic moment up to 4 layers from the interface.

© EDP Sciences 1997