Articles in peer-reviewed journals
| Composition-structure correlations in strained FexMn1-x/Ir superlattices |
| Snoeck E., Ardhuin H., Casanove M.J., Fischer H., Andrieu S., Piecuch M., Suenaga K., Colliex C. |
| Journal of Applied Physics 88 (2000) 4605 |
The structural and chemical characteristics of FexMn1-x alloys in [FexMn1-x/Ir(001)] superlattices with iron contents of x = 0.3, 0.5 and 0.9 are investigated at the nanometer scale by high resolution transmission electron microscopy and electron energy loss spectroscopy techniques. The transmission electron microscopy experiments show that pseudomorphic growth of the alloy on Ir is only achieved for x≥0.5. Layers with iron content x = 0.5 display, however, structural inhomogeneities and a weak Mn segregation effect. Layers with a high iron content, Fe0.9Mn0.1 are seen to present a quasiperiodic lattice modulation. We suggest that this modulation is associated with spinodal decomposition. All these structural investigations indicate that, in epitaxial strained thin layers, the FexMn1-x alloy reproduces almost all of the complex FexMn1-x phase diagram with, however, a marked shift towards the low Fe content regions. |