Structural influence on the magnetic and electronic properties of annealed Fe/Al multilayers.

Temperature dependent magnetic and electronic properties of electron beam evaporated Fe/Al multilayer samples (MLS) with an average composition of Fe0.70A1(0.30) (MLS-A) and Fe0.50Al0.50 (MLS-B) have been investigated. A ferromagnetic behaviour in MLS-A and nonmagnetic behaviour in MLS-B is obtained after annealing the multilayers at 400 degrees C. The different magnetic behaviours can be interpreted in terms of constant increase of Fe-3d and Al-3sp hybridization accompanied by an increased de-localization of the d-electrons participating in the strong bonding of Fe with Al leading to formation of different Fe-Al phases (Fe3Al in MLS-A) and (FeAl in MLS-B) as suggested from valence band photoemission and X-ray diffraction measurements.

Thickness dependent structural, electronic, and optical properties of Ge nanostructures.

In the present paper, we have investigated structural, optical as well as electronic properties of electron beam evaporated Ge thin films having layer thicknesses ranging from ultra-thin (5 nm) to thick (200 nm). The Raman spectra show that all peaks are shifted towards lower wave number as compared to their bulk counterparts and are considered as a signature of nanostructure formation and quantum confinement effect. The Raman line exhibits transformation from nanocrystalline to microcrystalline phase with a reduction in blue shift of peak position with increase in Ge film thickness (>5 nm). Similarly, the optical absorption spectra corresponding to these films also show reduction in blue shift effect, although Ge 5 nm film shows the absorption behaviour quite different from higher thickness films. The corresponding band gap values obtained from absorption measurements are much larger than bulk Ge and are mainly attributed to the effect of quantum confinement as expected for small size particles calculated from GIXRD patterns. AFM data in each case are correlated and discussed with structural as well as optical results to support the effect of growth morphology on the above-mentioned observations. The results are further supported by photoelectron spectroscopy (PES), photoluminescence (PL) and resistivity measurements and are interpreted in terms of crystallinity and quantum confinement effect.

Thickness dependent structural, magnetic and transport properties of nanostructured cobalt thin films.

This paper presents structural, magnetic, and transport properties measurements carried out on Co thin film as a function of thickness. The structure of the Co thin film changes from amorphous to nano-crystalline with the increase in film thickness. The corresponding magnetic and transport measurements show drastic changes in coercivity, saturation field and resistivity value as a function of Co film thickness. Observed magnetization and resistivity behaviour is mainly attributed to the (i) Change in crystal structure, (ii) stress relaxation, (iii) grain growth as revealed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), and atomic force microscopy (AFM) measurements.

Investigation of Ti layer thickness dependent structural, magnetic, and photoemission study of nanometer range Ti/Ni multilayer structures.

Structural, magnetic, and electronic properties of Ti/Ni multilayer (ML) samples as a function of Ti layer thickness are studied and reported in this paper. For this purpose [Ti (t nm)/Ni (5 nm)] x 10 ML samples, where t = 3, 5, and 7 nm have been deposited by using electron beam evaporation technique under UHV conditions at room temperature. Structure of ML samples were determined by using XRD (X-ray diffraction) technique and observed that Titanium is deposited mainly in amorphous nature with FCC structure at lower Ti layer thickness of 3 nm, which transform to crystalline HCP structures above than this Ti layer thickness. Corresponding fitted GIXRR (grazing incidence X-ray reflectivity) patterns shows asymmetric nature of Ti-Ni and Ni-Ti interfaces because of heavy intermixing and interdiffusion of Ni and Ti atoms at Ti-Ni interfaces at lower Ti layer thickness. The depth profiling core level and valence band measurements carried out by using XPS (X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy) technique confirms the interdiffusion and intermixing leading to Ti-Ni alloy phase formation at interfaces during deposition, particularly at lower Ti layer thickness of 3 nm. The corresponding magnetization behavior of ML samples has been investigated using Magneto-Optical Kerr Effect (MOKE) technique and observed that, coercitivity decreases while saturation magnetization increases with Ti layer thickness variations. These results are interpreted and discussed in terms of observed micro-structural changes due to Ti layer thickness vitiations in Ti/Ni multilayer samples.