Structural and magnetic properties of Ag/Cr metallic superlattices

The results of in situ reflection high-energy electron diffraction, X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy and magnetization measurements of Ag/Cr metallic superlattices (with a few monolayers of Cr) are presented. The superlattice structure is confirmed even in the superlattice with one monolayer of Cr. It is found from simulations of the observed X-ray diffraction profiles that dramatic changes in the interplanar distances of Ag and Cr take place as a function of the number of Cr monolayers in a period. The interplanar distance of Ag contracts, whilst, on the contrary, the interplanar distance of Cr is stretched; for the superlattice which includes two monolayers of Cr it is stretched by up to about 10%. Magnetization measurements show that the magnetization per Cr atom at 5 K with an applied field of 5 T is at a maximum for two monolayers of Cr.