Observation of Josephson coupling through an interlayer of antiferromagnetically ordered chromium

The supercurrent transport in metallic Josephson tunnel junctions with an additional interlayer made up by chromium, being an itinerant antiferromagnet, was studied. Uniform Josephson coupling was observed as a function of the magnetic field. The supercurrent shows a weak dependence on the interlayer thickness for thin chromium layers and decays exponentially for thicker films. The diffusion constant and the coherence length in the antiferromagnet were estimated. The antiferromagnetic state of the barrier was indirectly verified using reference samples. Our results are compared to macroscopic and microscopic models.Comment: Phys. Rev. B (2009), in prin

Thickness dependence of linear and quadratic magneto-optical Kerr effect in ultrathin Fe(001) films

Magneto-optical Kerr effect (MOKE) magnetometry is one of the most widely employed techniques for the characterization of ferromagnetic thin-film samples. Some information, such as coercive fields or anisotropy strengths can be obtained without any knowledge of the optical and magneto-optical (MO) properties of the material. On the other hand, a quantitative analysis, which requires a precise knowledge of the material's index of refraction n and the MO coupling constants K and G is often desirable, for instance for the comparison of samples, which are different with respect to ferromagnetic layer thicknesses, substrates, or capping layers. While the values of the parameters n and the linear MO coupling parameter K reported by different authors usually vary considerably, the relevant quadratic MO coupling parameters G of Fe are completely unknown. Here, we report on measurements of the thickness dependence (0-60nm) of the linear and quadratic MOKE in epitaxial bcc-Fe(001) wedge-type samples performed at a commonly used laser wavelength of 670nm. By fitting the thickness dependence we are able to extract a complete set of parameters n, K, (G11 - G12), and G44 for the quantitative description of the MOKE of bcc-Fe(001). We find sizable different n, K, and G parameters for films thinner than about 10nm as compared to thicker films, which is indicative of a thickness dependence of the electronic properties or of surface contributions to the MOKE. The effect size of the quadratic MOKE is found to be about a third of the record values recently reported for Co2FeSi.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figure

Spin Reorientations Induced by Morphology Changes in Fe/Ag(001)

By means of magneto-optical Kerr effect we observe spin reorientations from in-plane to out-of-plane and vice versa upon annealing thin Fe films on Ag(001) at increasing temperatures. Scanning tunneling microscopy images of the different Fe films are used to quantify the surface roughness. The observed spin reorientations can be explained with the experimentally acquired roughness parameters by taking into account the effect of roughness on both the magnetic dipolar and the magnetocrystalline anisotropy.Comment: 4 pages with 3 EPS figure

Intensity of Brillouin light scattering from spin waves in magnetic multilayers with noncollinear spin configurations: Theory and experiment

The scattering of photons from spin waves (Brillouin light scattering -- BLS) is a well-established technique for the study of layered magnetic systems. The information about the magnetic state and properties of the sample is contained in the frequency position, width, and intensity of the BLS peaks. Previously [Phys. Rev. B 67, 184404 (2003)], we have shown that spin wave frequencies can be conveniently calculated within the ultrathin film approach, treating the intralayer exchange as an effective bilinear interlayer coupling between thin virtual sheets of the ferromagnetic layers. Here we give the consequent extension of this approach to the calculation of the Brillouin light scattering (BLS) peak intensities. Given the very close relation of the BLS cross-section to the magneto-optic Kerr effect (MOKE), the depth-resolved longitudinal and polar MOKE coefficients calculated numerically via the usual magneto-optic formalism can be employed in combination with the spin wave precessional amplitudes to calculate full BLS spectra for a given magnetic system. This approach allows an easy calculation of BLS intensities even for noncollinear spin configurations including the exchange modes. The formalism is applied to a Fe/Cr/Fe/Ag/Fe trilayer system with one antiferromagnetically coupling spacer (Cr). Good agreement with the experimental spectra is found for a wide variety of spin configurations.Comment: 19 pages, 5 figure

Antiferromagnetic interlayer exchange coupling across an amorphous metallic spacer layer

By means of magneto-optical Kerr effect we observe for the first time antiferromagnetic coupling between ferromagnetic layers across an amorphous metallic spacer layer. Biquadratic coupling occurs at the transition from a ferromagnetically to an antiferromagnetically coupled region. Scanning tunneling microscopy images of all involved layers are used to extract thickness fluctuations and to verify the amorphous state of the spacer. The observed antiferromagnetic coupling behavior is explained by RKKY interaction taking into account the amorphous structure of the spacer material.Comment: Typset using RevTex, 4 pages with 4 figures (.eps

Interfacial magnetization in exchange-coupled Fe/Cr/Fe structures investigated by second harmonic generation

We have studied the magnetic field dependences of magnetic optical second harmonic generation (SHG) in MBE-grown Fe/Cr/Fe/Ag/GaAs(100) heterostructures displaying both bilinear and biquadratic interlayer exchange coupling. The magnetic field H was applied in the (100) surface plane along both easy ([001]) and hard ([110]) axes of the in-plane fourfold magnetic anisotropy. The SHG has been measured in reflection at near normal incidence for different polarization combinations (pp,ps,ss,sp) of the fundamental and second harmonic light in longitudinal and transversal geometries. The magnetic field variation of the SHG signal clearly reflects the field-induced transformations of the magnetic state at the interfaces in the trilayer. It strongly depends on the configuration of light polarization, experimental geometry (longitudinal or transversal), and orientation of the magnetic field H relative to the crystal axes. In contrast to linear magneto-optical Kerr effect, which is odd in magnetic field, magnetic SHG is either even in H or does not display a definite parity at all, depending on the polarization configuration. We interpret the data based on a model accounting for nonmagnetic and magnetic contributions to SHG from the surface and interfaces described by C-4v point symmetry. Taking into account the changes of the mutual orientation of interfacial magnetizations allows us to describe the general features of the measured field dependences of SHG

Control of interlayer exchange coupling in Fe/Cr/Fe trilayers by ion beam irradiation

The manipulation of the antiferromagnetic interlayer coupling in the epitaxial Fe/Cr/Fe(001) trilayer system by moderate 5 keV He ion beam irradiation has been investigated experimentally. It is shown that even for irradiation with very low fluences (10^14 ions/cm^2) a drastic change in strength of the coupling appears. For thin Cr-spacers (below 0.6 - 0.7 nm) the coupling strength decreases with fluence, becoming ferromagnetic for fluences above (2x10^14 ions/cm^2). The effect is connected with the creation of magnetic bridges in the layered system due to atomic exchange events caused by the bombardment. For thicker Cr spacers (0.8 - 1.2 nm) an enhancement of the antiferromagnetic coupling strength is found. A possible explanation of the enhancement effect is given.Comment: Submitted to PR

Influence of torrefaction on the grindability and reactivity of woody biomass

7 pages, 5 figures, 4 tables.-- Available online Oct 23, 2007.The use of biomass to produce energy is becoming more and more frequent as it helps to achieve a sustainable environmental scenario. However the exploitation of this fuel source does have drawbacks that need to be solved. In this work, the torrefaction of woody biomass (eucalyptus) was studied in order to improve its properties for pulverised systems. The process consisted in a heating treatment at moderate temperature (240, 260, 280°C) under an inert atmosphere. The grindability of raw biomass and the treated samples was compared and an improvement in the grindability characteristics was observed after the torrefaction process. Thermogravimetric analysis of the samples was carried out in order to study their reactivity in air. The DTG curves of the torrefied biomass showed a double peak nature. The kinetic parameters were calculated for each reaction stage. The torrefaction process was found to influence the parameters of the first stage, whereas those corresponding to the second remained unaffected.This work was carried out with financial support from the Spanish CDTI (Project CENIT PiIBE) and ELCOGAS, S.A. M.G.P. and C.P. acknowledge the support from the CSIC I3P Program co-financed by the European Social Fund, and J.F. from the Plan Regional de Investigacion del Principado de Asturias.Peer reviewe

Quenched Slonczewski-Windmill in Spin-Torque Vortex-Oscillators

We present a combined analytical and numerical study on double-vortex spin-torque nano-oscillators and describe a mechanism that suppresses the windmill modes. The magnetization dynamics is dominated by the gyrotropic precession of the vortex in one of the ferromagnetic layers. In the other layer the vortex gyration is strongly damped. The dominating layer for the magnetization dynamics is determined by the current polarity. Measurements on Fe/Ag/Fe nano-pillars support these findings. The results open up a new perspective for building high quality-factor spin-torque oscillators operating at selectable, well-separated frequency bands

Surface structure of i-Al(68)Pd(23)Mn(9): An analysis based on the T*(2F) tiling decorated by Bergman polytopes

A Fibonacci-like terrace structure along a 5fold axis of i-Al(68)Pd(23)Mn(9) monograins has been observed by T.M. Schaub et al. with scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM). In the planes of the terraces they see patterns of dark pentagonal holes. These holes are well oriented both within and among terraces. In one of 11 planes Schaub et al. obtain the autocorrelation function of the hole pattern. We interpret these experimental findings in terms of the Katz-Gratias-de Boisseu-Elser model. Following the suggestion of Elser that the Bergman clusters are the dominant motive of this model, we decorate the tiling T*(2F) by the Bergman polytopes only. The tiling T*(2F) allows us to use the powerful tools of the projection techniques. The Bergman polytopes can be easily replaced by the Mackay polytopes as the decoration objects. We derive a picture of ``geared'' layers of Bergman polytopes from the projection techniques as well as from a huge patch. Under the assumption that no surface reconstruction takes place, this picture explains the Fibonacci-sequence of the step heights as well as the related structure in the terraces qualitatively and to certain extent even quantitatively. Furthermore, this layer-picture requires that the polytopes are cut in order to allow for the observed step heights. We conclude that Bergman or Mackay clusters have to be considered as geometric building blocks of the i-AlPdMn structure rather than as energetically stable entities