Direct observation of magnetic depth profiles of thin Fe films on Cu(100) and Ni/Cu(100) with the depth-resolved x-ray magnetic circular dichroism

A depth-resolved technique in the x-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) has been developed and applied to Fe/Cu(100) and Fe/Ni/Cu(100) in order to observe the magnetic depth profile directly. It was confirmed that the surface two layers of the 7 ML Fe/Cu(100) are ferromagnetically coupled, while the inner layers are in the spin density wave (SDW) state at 130 K. The technique enables one to extract the XMCD spectra from the surface ferromagnetic (FM) and inner SDW regions separately, indicating that the FM/SDW interface has an antiparallel magnetic coupling, and that the SDW region has the bulk-like feature. For Fe/Ni/Cu(100), we have observed magnetically live surface layers and some thickness dependent magnetic coupling between the Fe surface and Ni film. (C) 2004 American Institute of Physics.