Magnetic studies in Fe/Zn multilayers

The structural and magnetic properties of Fe/Zn films prepared by thermal evaporation have been studied by means of X-ray diffraction, vibrating-sample magnetometry and ferromagnetic resonance (FMR). For Fe layer thickness smaller than 20 Å the saturation magnetization decreases with decreasing Fe thickness, which is an indication of the island growth of Zn and Fe–Zn interdiffusion at the layer interfaces. The effective field magnetization 4πMeff of the Fe/Zn multilayers was determined from the FMR data in a rotating external magnetic field. The interface anisotropy constant of the Fe/Zn multilayers, KS, is found to be 1.0 erg/cm2 at 300 K. This indicates the presence of a large perpendicular interface anisotropy and this may suggest that the largest part of KS originates from lattice misfit strain