Magnetism of thin chromium films studied with low-energy muon spin rotation

Abstract Low-energy muon spin rotation (LE-μ + SR) measurements were performed on 3.4 and 9.1 nm epitaxial Cr(0 0 1) films buried by non-magnetic boundary layers to study the collapse of the spin-density wave (SDW) of bulk Cr, which is expected when decreasing the thickness of the film below the modulation period of the SDW ( ≈6 nm ). Magnetic phases of Cr are identified by the fast relaxation of the muon spin polarization. While a reduced Neel temperature of 285 K with respect to the bulk value is found for the 9.1 nm Cr layer, the 3.4 nm film remains in a magnetic phase over the investigated temperature range of 20–320 K.