Structure and magnetism of Pd in Pd/Fe multilayers studied by x-ray magnetic circular dichroism at the Pd L(2,3) edges

We have measured the L(2,3) absorption edges of Pd in Pd/Fe multilayers with different Pd interlayer thicknesses. The spectral features observed after the L(3) and L(2) white lines indicate that in the atomic layer adjacent to Fe the Pd atoms have a local structure different from fee. X-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) at these edges shows that the atoms directly at the interface are strongly polarized with a total moment of about 0.4 mu(B)/atom. The orbital moments are found to be small (0.0-0.04 mu(B)). The thickness dependence of the XMCD shows that Pd atoms carry a magnetic moment up to four layers from the interface. The magnetic interface appears larger than the crystallographic one.