Abstract
Amorphous alloy of Fe–N with ∼40 at.% N has been prepared by reactive ion-beam sputtering. A systematic study of the growth behaviour, thermal stability, atomic diffusion and the magnetic properties of the alloy has been done. Deposition characteristics of the film have been studied using the x-ray reflectivity and the atomic force microscopy techniques. The results suggest that it is a suitable system for preparing isotopic multilayers for application as the nuclear Bragg monochromator. Pure nuclear Bragg reflections have been observed from an isotopic multilayer of composition: float glass (substrate)/[natFeN0.7(30 Å)/57FeN0.7(20 Å)]×10/natFeN0.7(30 Å). A nuclear Bragg peak because of isotopic periodicity is observed at an angle of 0.55°. where the electronic scattering is of the order of 10−3. A nuclear reflectivity of 2.5% has been obtained at the first Bragg peak.
