Berlin 2012 – scientific programme

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MA: Fachverband Magnetismus

MA 39: Micro- and Nanostructured Magnetic Materials I

MA 39.11: Talk

Thursday, March 29, 2012, 12:15–12:30, EB 202

Mesoscopic magnetic structure and competing anisotropies in laterally structured Fe / Cr-layer systems — •Markus Schmitz, Alexander Weber, Emmanuel Kentzinger, Elisabeth Josten, Ulrich Rücker, and Thomas Brückel — JCNS-2, PGI-4: Streumethoden Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH

Patterned magnetic structures are the basic elements of spintronic devices. The ongoing miniaturization makes the influence of neighboring structures more and more important. Fe/Cr multilayers have been grown epitaxially on GaAs (100) single crystals by Molecular Beam Epitaxy. The Cr interlayers induce an antiferromagnetic coupling between adjacent Fe layers. Thus, the magnetic dipole moment is reduced and a magnetic superstructure is created, which is, due to the contrast of Cr to Fe, easily observable by polarized neutron reflectometry. The lateral structuring was performed by UV-nanoimprint lithography and Reactive Ion Etching. The structural characterization was carried out by Scanning Electron Microscopy, Atomic Force Microscopy and X-ray scattering under grazing incidence. The macroscopic magnetic properties were determined by MOKE and SQUID magnetometry. Polarized neutron reflectometry and off-specular scattering was used to determine the magnetic domain formation within the individual layers. Furthermore, simulations of the neutron data were generated and compared with the measurement in order to improve the simulation model. The work presented gives insight into the interplay of shape and crystalanisotropy within the individual layers and patterns.