Strain-induced spin reorientation of bcc-like iron films grown on Cu(001)

Temperature dependence of the surface anisotropy of Fe ultrathin films on Cu(001).

We report an experimental approach to separate temperature dependent reversible and irreversible contributions to the perpendicular magnetic anisotropy of Fe films grown at low temperatures on Cu(001) substrates. The surface anisotropy K(S)(T) is found to decrease linearly with temperature, causing a thermally induced spin reorientation into the plane. The irreversible shift of the spin reorien...

Adsorbate and thermally induced spin reorientation transition in low-temperature-grown Fe/Cu(001)

Effect of oxygen adsorption on the structure and spin-reorientation

The morphology, structure, and magnetism of Fe films on an oxygen-precovered, stepped Cu~1 1 25! surface are investigated by scanning tunneling microscopy, low-energy electron diffraction, and magneto-optical Kerr effect analysis. After exposure of Cu~1 1 25! to about 600 L of oxygen at 493 K, a well-ordered ~2&3&!R45° superstructure is formed. The O-induced structure has a zig-zag morphology, ...

A Molecular-dynamics Study: Nucleation Processes and Structural Transformation of Thin Iron Films on Cu(001)

We have studied the structure of monolayers of iron on a Cu(001) substrate. By means of molecular-dynamics simulations in combination with embedded-atom potentials for the description of the interactions between the atoms, we have investigated the growth of bcc domains in the iron film with decreasing temperature. It turns out that the bcc domains become larger with decreasing temperature, but ...

Determination of critical thickness of spin reorientation in metastable magnetic ultrathin films

We investigate the spin reorientation of structurally unstable magnetic ultrathin films ~base films! using magnetic capping layers. The capping layers, whose effective anisotropy constant is opposite that of the base films, are grown on the base films with no transformed structure and induce a spin reorientation after exceeding a critical thickness. The critical thickness of the capping layers ...