X-ray magnetic circular dichroism studies for Fe/Si interfaces using standing waves

Depth-resolved magnetic circular dichroism (MCD) spectra were measured for ferromagnetically and antiferromagnetically-coupled Fe/Si/Fe trilayer samples at the Fe L_2,3 edges using X-ray standing wave technique. Physicochemical state of the interdiffused layer of the samples was also estimated using soft X-ray fluorescence (SXF) spectroscopy. It was found for both the trilayers that enhancement in the orbital moment due to the interface anisotropy occurs at the Fe₃Si layer in the interdiffused layer. This means that SXF measurement enables us to predict to some extent magnetic state of buried interfaces in terms of the chemical state.