Interface quality and thermal stability of laser-deposited metal/MgO multilayers

• Metal/MgO multilayers (metal of Fe80Ni80Nb20, and Ti) with bilayer periods in the range 1.2-3.0 nm have been prepared by pulsed laser deposition and characterized by both hard and soft-x-ray reflectometry. The interface roughness is found to be less than or equal to 0.5 nm in all the samples and is nearly independent of the total number of deposited bilayers. The interface roughness, however, depends on the absolute thickness of the individual layers and increases from approximate to0.3 nm for a 3.0-nm period to approximate to0.5 nm for a bilayer period of 1.2 nm. The multilayers are found to be highly stable up to temperatures as high as 550 degreesC. The hard-x-ray reflectivity of the multilayers decreases for T > 300 degreesC, whereas the layered structure is stable up to 550 degreesC. The reflectivity in the water window region of soft x rays, lambda = 3.374 nm, was found to be 0.4% at an angle of incidence of approximate to54degrees for multilayers with 60 bilayers at a period of approximate to2.1 nm. (C) 2004 Optical Society of America.

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