Grazing Incidence X-Ray Reflectivity Study of MBE-Grown Co/Cu Multilayers

In this work we report preliminary grazing-incidence X-ray reflectometry studies of multilayer structures composed of 3d metals Co and Cu deposited in the ultra-high vacuum molecular beam epitaxy system. The multilayers of different modulation period were deposited on glass substrate directly, or on 3d -metallic buffers of various thicknesses. The experimental specular reflectivity spectra were analyzed by a comparison with a theoretical model calculated from a recursive algorithm based on the Fresnel formula [1, 2]. It enabled us to estimate the structural parameters concerning layer thickness and roughness. The results obtained are correlated with magnetization measurements of the layered structures, as a function of modulation period, buffer type and thickness. A special attention to influence of interfacial roughness on magnetization results is paid.