Solid-state synthesis, magnetic and structural properties of interfacial B2-FeRh(001) layers in Rh/Fe(001) films.

Here we first report results of the start of the solid-state reaction at the Rh/Fe(001) interface and the structural and magnetic phase transformations in 52Rh/48Fe(001), 45Rh/55Fe(001), 68Rh/32Fe(001) bilayers from room temperature to 800 °C. For all bilayers the non-magnetic nanocrystalline phase with a B2 structure (nfm-B2) is the first phase that is formed on the Rh/Fe(001) interface near 100 °C. Above 300 °C, without changing the nanocrystalline B2 structure, the phase grows into the low-magnetization modification α' (M ~ 825 emu/cm) of the ferromagnetic α phase which has a reversible α' ↔ α" transition.