Structural and Magnetic Properties of Ni(0.8)Fe(0.2)/Ti Nanoscale Multilayers

The influence of the thickness of the Ni(0.8)Fe(0.2) (Permalloy, Py) layers on the structural and magnetic properties of magnetron sputtered Py/Ti multilayers was studied. The thickness of the Py layers was varied in the interval of 8 to 30 Å. X-ray reflectivity scans evidence the existence of a well-defined layered structure in all the samples considered, but also the presence of a complex intermixed interface. The shape of both the temperature dependence of magnetization and the hysteresis loops of the multilayered structures depends strongly on Py thickness. Magnetic and reflectivity measurements were comparatively analyzed in order to better understand the structure of the samples, and specifically, their interfaces. In particular, the presence of small superparamagnetic Py at the interfaces of the samples, especially evident in the samples with the thinnest Py layers, seems confirmed by the magnetic measurements, agreeing well with the reflectivity results.