title: Probing the spiral magnetic phase in 6 nm textured erbium using polarised neutron reflectometry.
abstract: We characterise the magnetic state of highly-textured, sputter deposited erbium for a film of thickness 6 nm. Using polarised neutron reflectometry it is found that the film has a high degree of magnetic disorder, and we present some evidence that the film's local magnetic state is consistent with bulk-like spiral magnetism. This, combined with complementary characterisation techniques, show that thin film erbium is a strong candidate material for incorporation into device structures.
authors.affiliation: School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT, UK. ISIS, STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Chilton, Didcot, Oxon, OX11 0QX, UK.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Satchell
authors.forename: J D S
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Witt
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Burnell
authors.forename: P J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Curran
authors.forename: C J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Kinane
authors.forename: T R
authors.initials: TR
authors.lastname: Charlton
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Langridge
authors.forename: J F K
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Cooper