Magnetic and structural studies on nanostructured Gd/Cr multilayer films

Investigations of magnetic phases, transition temperatures and coercivity were performed in multilayered Gd/Cr films as a function of the crystalline state and morphology of the Gd layers. The films were deposited by dc magnetron sputtering at three substrate temperatures, Ts, (room temperature, 300 and 500°C). The Gd and Cr thicknesses were of 10 and 30nm, respectively. Two series of three films were prepared. In one of the series, the films had a single Gd/Cr bilayer; in the other, 15 bilayers. The discontinuous or granular nature of the Gd layers was revealed by scanning electron microscopy Grazing incidence angle x-ray diffraction was used to investigate the crystalline state of the Gd and Cr layers. These techniques revealed that grain average size and crystalline order increase with increasing Ts. From dc magnetic measurements, the co-existence of ferromagnetic and superferromagnetic phases in the Gd layers was observed, and Curie transition temperatures, TC, were determined. High coercive fields at low temperature (2K) were measured in hysteresis cycles. Field-cooled and zero field-cooled magnetizations as functions of temperature curves exhibited, for some of the samples, a low temperature peak suggesting a freezing transition to a cluster glass state. This was confirmed by complementary ac-susceptibility measurements carried out as a function of temperature, for various frequencies of the ac field. Some results of this work – the decline in TC for decreasing Gd grain size, the high coercive field and its dependence on particle size, and the behavior of the magnetization at low temperatures for the sample deposited at room temperature – are discussed in terms of finite size and surface effects in nanosized particles. •Sputter-deposited Gd/Cr multilayer films with nanostructured Gd layers•Ferromagnetic and superferromagnetic phases are observed.•Ferromagnetic phase dependent of the deposition temperature•Improved determinations of the Curie points using ac-susceptibility•Crystallinity of Gd particles varies as a function of temperature during deposition.