Interface and magnetic characterization of ultrathin EuO films with XMCD

We present work done on EuO films with thicknesses varying from 10 to 60 A grown as a stepped wedge on Si/Cr(20 {angstrom})/Cu(90 {angstrom}) and capped with Y(20 {angstrom})/Al(80 {angstrom}). The films were characterized by x-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) and x-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) at the europium M{sub 5} and copper L{sub 3} edges. The films high quality and consistent magnetic properties were confirmed by SQUID magnetometry, which revealed a constant saturation moment independent of film thickness. XAS at the Cu L{sub 3} edge showed that the bottom Cu electrode is metallic (oxidation free). We report an XMCD intensity of 52% ({+-}4.3), in close agreement with theoretical calculations.