Magnetic properties of epitaxial and polycrystalline Fe/Si multilayers

Fe/Si multilayers with antiferromagnetic interlayer coupling have been grown via ion-beam sputtering on both glass and single-crystal substrates. X-ray diffraction measurements show that both sets of films have crystalline iron silicide spacer layers and a periodic composition modulation. Films grown on glass have smaller crystallite sizes than those grown on single-crystal substrates and have a significant remanent magnetization. Films grown on single-crystal substrates have a smaller remanence. The observation of magnetocrystalline anisotropy in hysteresis loops and (hkl) peaks in x-ray diffraction demonstrates that the films grown on MgO and Ge are epitaxial. The smaller remanent magnetization in Fe/Si multilayers with better crystallinity suggests that the remanence is not intrinsic