On the atomic interdiffusion in Co/Pt superlattices

Abstract

We have performed x-ray diffraction experiments on MBE grown 〈111〉 and 〈001〉 oriented Co (3 Å)/Pt (18 Å) superlattices with the scattering vector Q covering a plane that includes a major component perpendicular and a minor component parallel to the plane of the sample. The superlattice diffraction peaks were found to have a large width parallel to the plane of the film, indicating that there is strong in-plane disorder. These broad peaks were integrated to evaluate more accurately the amount of interdiffusion at the interface, which was found to be similar in both films, contrary to what the conventional x-ray diffraction experiment suggests.