Growth-orientation dependence of magnetic properties of Cr-based multilayers with 119Sn monatomic layers

Abstract The growth-orientation dependence of magnetism of Cr/Sn and Fe/Cr/Sn/Cr multilayers was studied. For Fe/Cr/Sn/Cr multilayers, reduction of Cr magnetic moments was found in both (0 1 1)- and (0 0 1)-orientated samples, and the effect is larger in the former than the latter. In Cr/Sn multilayers, the (0 1 1)-oriented sample with the Cr layer thickness ( t Cr ) of 80 A has a commensurate antiferromagnetic structure, while the (0 0 1)-oriented samples with t Cr ⩾80 A have a spin-density-wave structure with the wave vector perpendicular to the film plane.