Hydrogen induced change of the atomic magnetic moments in Fe/V-superlattices

We have studied the change of the magnetic saturation of (Fe-n/V-m)(30) superlattices (30 periods with n monolayers of Fe and m monolayers of V) upon loading with hydrogen using a highly sensitive Faraday balance and in situ loading with hydrogen. We find that the measured magnetic saturation moment for all samples increases with the hydrogen. The measured magnetic saturation moment for all samples increases with the hydrogen concentration. For the superlattice (Fe-3/V-11)(30) we find the maximum increase, corresponding to a change of the atomic magnetic moments of + 0.35 mu (B)/Fe atom. We attribute this remarkable effect to a change of the Fe and V magnetic moments at the interfaces caused by the charge transfer from the hydrogen atoms to the vanadium d bands. (C) 2001 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.