Structural and magnetic properties of Fe thin films on Cu90Au10(001) - art. no. 024401

Citation
Ss. Kang et al., Structural and magnetic properties of Fe thin films on Cu90Au10(001) - art. no. 024401, PHYS REV B, 6302(2), 2001, pp. 4401
Citations number
31
Language
INGLESE
art.tipo
Article
Categorie Soggetti
Apllied Physucs/Condensed Matter/Materiales Science
Journal title
PHYSICAL REVIEW B
ISSN journal
0163-1829 → ACNP
Volume
6302
Issue
2
Year of publication
2001
Database
ISI
SICI code
0163-1829(20010101)6302:2<4401:SAMPOF>2.0.ZU;2-6
Abstract
A series of Fe thin films with thicknesses ranging from 1 monolayer (ML) to 30 ML was deposited on a Cu90Au10 (001) substrate (a = 3.66 Angstrom) at r oom temperature. Structural properties were investigated by low-energy elec tron diffraction (LEED). From intensity vs energy [I(E)] measurements of th e specular LEED reflection, three different structural phases were observed . The first phase at low Fe thicknesses (<4 ML) is a tetragonally expanded fee phase (fct) with an interlayer distance a(<perpendicular to>) above 1.9 0 Angstrom. The second phase at Fe thicknesses between 4 and 10 ML is assoc iated with an interlayer distance a(perpendicular to) approximate to 1.76 A ngstrom. With further increasing Fe thickness (>10 ML), the third phase, a bcc(011) structure with a(perpendicular to) approximate to 2.03 Angstrom, o ccurs. The magnetic properties were studied by in situ magneto-optical Kerr effect (MOKE). It was found that the Fe films of the first and third phase have a high-spin ferromagnetic moment, while they exhibit a low net magnet ic moment in the second phase. The observed structural and magnetic phases are thus similar to the Fe/Cu(001) system. The direction of the easy magnet ic axis in Fe/Cu90Au10 is perpendicular to the film plane only at thickness es below 2 ML, where a spin-reorientation transition from perpendicular-to- the-film-plane to in-plane with increasing film thickness has been found. T he origin of perpendicular magnetization is discussed.