NEUTRON ELLIPSOMETRY

We discuss the similarities which exist between the reflection of neutrons from ferromagnetic media and the reflection of light from media rendered gyrotropic by the application of a magnetic field, and show that the vector character of the neutron polarisation can be fully exploited in spin-analyse...

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Main Authors: Bland, J, Hughes, H, Blundell, S, Johnson, N
Format: Journal article
Published: 1993
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author Bland, J
Hughes, H
Blundell, S
Johnson, N
author_facet Bland, J
Hughes, H
Blundell, S
Johnson, N
author_sort Bland, J
collection OXFORD
description We discuss the similarities which exist between the reflection of neutrons from ferromagnetic media and the reflection of light from media rendered gyrotropic by the application of a magnetic field, and show that the vector character of the neutron polarisation can be fully exploited in spin-analysed neutron reflection measurements (termed 'neutron ellipsometry' because of the similarity to optical ellipsometry) to give valuable magnetometric information for ultrathin films and multilayers, and with certain advantages over conventional polarised neutron reflection measurements. We show that for the case of a single ultrathin magnetic layer with uniform magnetisation, the component of the in-plane magnetisation perpendicular to the incident neutron polarisation determines both the spin conserving and spin flipping reflectivities in the region of total reflection, while a more complex regime obtains in the partially reflecting region. Making neutron ellipsometric measurements in both reflection regions thus allows the magnitude and orientation of the in-plane magnetisation vector to be directly determined. This is illustrated by numerical calculations for a single ultrathin iron layer supported by a silver substrate and with a silver cap. © 1993.
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spelling oxford-uuid:6c00b06f-e568-476d-b745-d8a2c8858a732022-03-26T19:07:57ZNEUTRON ELLIPSOMETRYJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:6c00b06f-e568-476d-b745-d8a2c8858a73Symplectic Elements at Oxford1993Bland, JHughes, HBlundell, SJohnson, NWe discuss the similarities which exist between the reflection of neutrons from ferromagnetic media and the reflection of light from media rendered gyrotropic by the application of a magnetic field, and show that the vector character of the neutron polarisation can be fully exploited in spin-analysed neutron reflection measurements (termed 'neutron ellipsometry' because of the similarity to optical ellipsometry) to give valuable magnetometric information for ultrathin films and multilayers, and with certain advantages over conventional polarised neutron reflection measurements. We show that for the case of a single ultrathin magnetic layer with uniform magnetisation, the component of the in-plane magnetisation perpendicular to the incident neutron polarisation determines both the spin conserving and spin flipping reflectivities in the region of total reflection, while a more complex regime obtains in the partially reflecting region. Making neutron ellipsometric measurements in both reflection regions thus allows the magnitude and orientation of the in-plane magnetisation vector to be directly determined. This is illustrated by numerical calculations for a single ultrathin iron layer supported by a silver substrate and with a silver cap. © 1993.
spellingShingle Bland, J
Hughes, H
Blundell, S
Johnson, N
NEUTRON ELLIPSOMETRY
title NEUTRON ELLIPSOMETRY
title_full NEUTRON ELLIPSOMETRY
title_fullStr NEUTRON ELLIPSOMETRY
title_full_unstemmed NEUTRON ELLIPSOMETRY
title_short NEUTRON ELLIPSOMETRY
title_sort neutron ellipsometry
work_keys_str_mv AT blandj neutronellipsometry
AT hughesh neutronellipsometry
AT blundells neutronellipsometry
AT johnsonn neutronellipsometry