Field induced spin reorientation in [Fe/Cr]n multilayers studied by nuclear resonance reflectivity

TL;DR

This study uses nuclear resonance reflectivity to analyze how magnetic layers in Fe/Cr multilayers reorient their spins under external magnetic fields, revealing complex noncollinear magnetization profiles and the importance of azimuth angle interpretation.

Contribution

It introduces a joint fitting method for depth-resolved NRR data and clarifies the physical meaning of azimuth angles in magnetic profile determination.

Findings

Revealed noncollinear twisted magnetization profiles under applied fields.

Identified sequential spin flop transitions in Fe layers.

Highlighted the complexity of azimuth angle interpretation in magnetic measurements.

Abstract

We present the depth-resolved nuclear resonance reflectivity (NRR) studies of the magnetization evolution in [57Fe(3 nm)/Cr(1.2 nm)]*10 multilayer under the applied external field. The measurements have been performed at the station BL09XU of SPring-8 at different values of the external field (from 0 up to 1500 Oe). We apply the joint fit of the delayed reflectivity curves and the time spectra of the nuclear resonance reflectivity measured at different grazing angles for enhancement of the depth resolution and reliability of the results. For the first time we show that the azimuth angle, which is used in all papers devoted to the magnetization profile determination, has more complicated physical sense due to the partially coherent averaging of the scattering amplitudes from magnetic lateral domains. We describe the way how to select the true azimuth angle from the determined "effective azimuth angle". Finally we obtain the noncollinear twisted magnetization depth-profiles where the spin flop state appears sequentially in different 57Fe layers at increasing applied field.