Evidence for nanoscale two-dimensional Co clusters in CoPt3 films with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy.

The length scale of the local chemical anisotropy responsible for the growth-temperature-induced perpendicular magnetic anisotropy of face-centered cubic CoPt(3) alloy films was investigated using polarized extended x-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS). These x-ray measurements were performed on a series of four (111) CoPt(3) films epitaxially grown on (0001) sapphire substrates. The EXAFS data show a preference for Co-Co pairs parallel to the film plane when the film exhibits magnetic anisotropy, and random chemical order otherwise. Furthermore, atomic pair correlation anisotropy was evidenced only in the EXAFS signal from the next neighbors to the absorbing Co atoms and from multiple scattering paths focused through the next neighbors. This suggests that the Co clusters are no more than a few atoms in extent in the plane and one monolayer in extent out of the plane. Our EXAFS results confirm the correlation between perpendicular magnetic anisotropy and two-dimensional Co segregation in CoPt(3) alloy films, and establish a length scale on the order of 10 Å for the Co clusters.

Local structure of uncapped and capped InGaN/GaN quantum dots.

The local structure around the indium atoms in uncapped and capped In(x)Ga(1-x)N quantum dots has been studied by In K-edge extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) spectroscopy. The samples were grown by metal organic vapour phase epitaxy. The EXAFS was successfully applied to study the structural properties of buried quantum dots which are not optically active. The analysis revealed that capping the quantum dots with GaN does not affect the bond distances of the In-N and In-Ga, but makes the In-In distance shorter by 0.04 A.

The local electronic structure of alpha-Li3N.

New theoretical and experimental investigations of the occupied and unoccupied local electronic densities of states (DOS) are reported for alpha-Li(3)N. Band-structure and density-functional theory calculations confirm the absence of covalent bonding character. However, real-space full-multiple-scattering (RSFMS) calculations of the occupied local DOS find less extreme nominal valences than have previously been proposed. Nonresonant inelastic x-ray scattering, RSFMS calculations, and calculations based on the Bethe-Salpeter equation are used to characterize the unoccupied electronic final states local to both the Li and N sites. There is a good agreement between experiment and theory. Throughout the Li 1s near-edge region, both experiment and theory find strong similarities in the s-and p-type components of the unoccupied local final DOS projected onto an orbital angular momentum basis (l-DOS). An unexpected, significant correspondence exists between the near-edge spectra for the Li 1s and N 1s initial states. We argue that both spectra are sampling essentially the same final DOS due to the combination of long core-hole lifetimes, long photoelectron lifetimes, and the fact that orbital angular momentum is the same for all relevant initial states. Such considerations may be generally applicable for low atomic number compounds.

Growth induced magnetic and chemical anisotropy in CoPt3 alloy films.

We report the results of polarized Co EXAFS experiments on a series of CoPt3 films grown by molecular beam epitaxy on (100) MgO singe crystal substrates over a range of temperatures from 473 K to 1073 K. These samples exhibit substantial perpendicular magnetic anisotropy that is strongly dependent on the substrate growth temperature Tg. We measure a preference for in-plane Co-Co pairs that is correlated with the magnetic properties.

Sample-angle feedback for diffraction anomalous fine-structure spectroscopy.

Diffraction anomalous fine-structure (DAFS) experiments measure Bragg peak intensities as continuous functions of photon energy near a core-level excitation. Measuring the integrated intensity at each energy makes the experiments prohibitively slow; however, in many cases DAFS can be collected quickly by measuring only the peak intensity at the center of the rocking curve. A piezoelectric-actuator-driven stage has been designed and tested as part of a sample-angle feedback circuit for locking onto the maximum of the rocking curve while the energy is scanned. Although software peak-tracking requires only a simple calculation of diffractometer angles, it is found that the additional hardware feedback dramatically improves the reproducibility of the data.