Measurement and modeling of polarized specular neutron reflectivity in large magnetic fields

Maranville, Brian B.; Kirby, Brian J.; Grutter, Alexander J.; Kienzle, Paul A.; Majkrzak, Charles F.; Liu, Yaohua; Dennis, Cindi L.

doi:10.1107/S1600576716007135

Title: Measurement and modeling of polarized specular neutron reflectivity in large magnetic fields

Journal Article · 09 June 2016 · Journal of Applied Crystallography (Online)

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1107/S1600576716007135 · OSTI ID:1311226

Maranville, Brian B. ^[1]; Kirby, Brian J. ^[1]; Grutter, Alexander J. ^[1]; Kienzle, Paul A. ^[1]; Majkrzak, Charles F. ^[1]; Liu, Yaohua ^[2]; Dennis, Cindi L. ^[3]

National Inst. of Standards and Technology (NIST), Gaithersburg, MD (United States). Center for Neutron Research
Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Quantum Condensed Matter Division
National Inst. of Standards and Technology (NIST), Gaithersburg, MD (United States). Material Measurement Lab.

The presence of a large applied magnetic field removes the degeneracy of the vacuum energy states for spin-up and spin-down neutrons. For polarized neutron reflectometry, this must be included in the reference potential energy of the Schrödinger equation that is used to calculate the expected scattering from a magnetic layered structure. For samples with magnetization that is purely parallel or antiparallel to the applied field which defines the quantization axis, there is no mixing of the spin states (no spin-flip scattering) and so this additional potential is constant throughout the scattering region. When there is non-collinear magnetization in the sample, however, there will be significant scattering from one spin state into the other, and the reference potentials will differ between the incoming and outgoing wavefunctions, changing the angle and intensities of the scattering. In conclusion, the theory of the scattering and recommended experimental practices for this type of measurement are presented, as well as an example measurement.

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Research Organization:: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC05-00OR22725

OSTI ID:: 1311226

Journal Information:: Journal of Applied Crystallography (Online), Vol. 49, Issue 4; ISSN 1600-5767

Publisher:: International Union of CrystallographyCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Cited by: 10 works

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References (8)

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