Abstract
The structural and magnetic properties of Zr/Fe/Zr trilayer structures, composed of ultrathin layers of Fe stacked between two pure Zr layers, have been studied by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD), conversion electron Mössbauer spectroscopy (CEMS) and magnetometry techniques. The XRD results, as well as the room temperature saturation magnetization, show a decrease in the amount of bcc-Fe on decreasing the Fe layer thickness. The thickness dependence of the room temperature coercivity is interpreted as giving evidence for a switch from a Bloch domain wall structure to a Néel interacting cluster behaviour, as the Fe layer thickness is decreased below 16nm. Below this thickness, the temperature dependence of the coercivity as well as the thermomagnetization behaviour, suggest a magnetic structure composed of crystalline bcc-Fe interacting clusters. This effect can be related to the appearance of an amorphous Fe–Zr alloy phase at the grain boundaries which affects progressively the magnetization process as the magnetic layer thickness is reduced.
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