Magnetization profile across Au-covered bcc Fe films grown on a vicinal surface of Ag(001) as seen by x-ray resonant magnetic reflectivity

We report on the local magnetic properties of ultrathin bcc Fe films grown on a Ag(1,1,6) stepped surface and covered by a Au layer. We determined the structure of the multilayer stack and the depth-resolved magnetic profile for 5.9 and 13.5 monolayer (ML) thick films. The experiments were carried out on magnetically saturated samples by soft x-ray resonant magnetic reflectivity using both circularly and linearly polarized x rays and two different acquisition configurations. Our results indicate a 20% enhancement of the magnetic moment in the first 2-3 ML of Fe at both interfaces. A comparison of the magnetization profile for Fe films grown on a flat Ag(001) surface indicates a very similar effect and does not reveal any difference regarding the method's accuracy.