The determination of the period of magnetic multilayers by the X-ray energy dispersive diffraction method

Abstract

The measurement of the period of the multilayer system Al/Fe was obtained both by the classical angular dispersive method and the energy disperive method. The energy dispersive method uses an X-ray white spectrum and a fixed angle of incidence and the diffracted polychromatic spectrum is analyzed using a Si(Li) detector at a fixed angle of reflection. The spatial period of an artificially layered material is not strictly the same at any location of the sample, thus for a fast determination of the period with about 1% accuracy, the energy dispersive method seems advantageous because it does not require a high precision goniometer.