OFF-SPECULAR REFLECTIVITY MEASUREMENTS ON PERIODIC MAGNETIC STRIPE DOMAINS IN Fe0.5Pd0.5 THIN FILMS.

Specular polarised neutron reflectometry with polarisation analysis allows one to probe in-depth magnetic profiles of thin films (along the normal to the film). In the case of homogeneous films, the neutron is sensitive only to the in-plane magnetisation and all the intensity is reflected in the specular direction. In the case of non homogeneous films, all the directions of the magnetisation can be explored and intensity is scattered off the specular direction. The convention is to call « off-specular » the intensity measured in the incidence plane and « surface diffraction » the intensity measured out of the incidence plane. The incidence plane is defined by the incident wave vector and the perpendicular of the surface. Off-specular reflectometry gives information about latera