Berlin 2012 – scientific programme

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MA: Fachverband Magnetismus

MA 5: Spin Structures and Magnetic Phase Transitions

MA 5.11: Talk

Monday, March 26, 2012, 12:15–12:30, H 0112

Neutron reflectometry of Fe₃O₄ thin films through the Verwey Transition — •Mehrdad Baghaie Yazdi¹, Marton Major¹, Andrew Wilders², Wolfgang Donner¹, and Lambert Alff¹ — ¹Technische Universität Darmstadt, Darmstadt, Deutschland — ²ILL, Grenoble, Frankreich

The Verwey transition in magnetite, Fe₃O₄, is still a not-understood phenomenon. At the Verwey point - which is a first-order-transition - a series of physical property changes, such as conductivity, crystal structure, and magnetization. We have grown epitaxial thin films on (100) MgO substrates by rf-magnetron sputtering. These films show extremely large changes in the magnetization at the Verwey transition making them ideal study objects. We have applied neutron reflectometry through the Verwey transition to understand the nature of the changes in magnetization. One important question addressed is the possibility of magnetic axes switching as origin of the steep drop in magnetization.