Spin-polarized photoemission study of epitaxial Fe(001) films on Ag(001)

A new simple method for point contact Andreev reflection (PCAR) using a self-aligned atomic filament in transition-metal oxides

Point contact Andreev reflection (PCAR) has become a standard method for measuring the spin polarization (P) of spintronic materials due to its unique simplicity and the firm physical ground, but it is still challenging to achieve a clean point contact between a superconductor (SC) and a metal (N) for implementing PCAR. In this work, we suggest a much simpler method for PCAR measurement, where a point contact between SC and N is provided by a metallic filament in a transition-metal oxide generated by electrical bias. This method has been successfully demonstrated using a structure composed of Nb/NiO/Pt, where P of the Ni filament was estimated to be about 40%, consistent with the known value of the bulk Ni. In addition, we investigated the dependence of the conductance spectrum on the measurement temperature and the magnetic field. We found that the superconductivity is not fully suppressed until 9 T far above the critical field of Nb, which is associated with the nm-sized constriction of our SC/N junction, much smaller than the coherence length of the SC.

Temperature Dependence of Two-Dimensional Spin Anisotropies

Large anisotropy energy is an essential property of high quality permanent magnets. In previous work we have calculated the spin polarized electronic structure and anisotropy of monolayers and slabs of Fe, Ni, and V. In this work we calculate the dependence on temperature of the spin anisotropy of a ferromagnetic monolayer of Fe. We find the easy direction of magnetization is not sensitive to the temperature; the variations calculated here are likely too small to be observed. It is perpendicular to the plane of the surface for both low and high temperatures. The calculations become progressively more ill-behaved as the temperatures are lowered and require more computer time for satisfactory convergence.

For Fe/Cu {100}, we find the spins always prefer to point out of plane. Experimental results in general are consistent with this view, although the systems seem to be difficult to prepare.

Quantum well States in Fe (100) Ultrathin Films Observed by Magneto-Optical Effect

We report on the Magneto-optical Kerr rotation (<φ>K) spectra of ultrathin Fe films on Au or Ag (100) substrates and the φK oscillation due to interlayer thickness in Fe/Au/Fe sandwich films. In 3.5–4.5 eV, a new φK peak appears in the bcc-Fe (100) ultrathin films on the fcc-Au (100) surface and it shifts towards the higher energy side with increasing Fe layer thickness. The absolute value of eXy for 3Å (2ML) thick Fe layers is twice as large as that of bulk Fe at 3.7 eV. The thickness dependence of the transition energy of this new peak in the spectra is well explained by the concept of quantum well states in the Fe ultrathin layers, attributing the new transition to a transition from the majority spin Δ5 band ({px±i py), {dxz±i dyZ}; M=±l) to the Δ1 quantum well states (s, pz, dz2; M=0). The new peak is also observed in the Fe/Au (100) artificial superlattices. Using the εxy obtained experimentally for the Fe ultrathin films and the εxy of literature, we can reproduce the experimental φK spectra of the artificial superlattices by optical calculation. On the other hand, we cannot observe the same behavior for the ultrathin Fe films grown on a fcc-Ag (100) surface and covered by a Au (100) ultrathin film, although the εXy of Fe is different from that of the bulk and shows some structures in 2–3 eV. These structures around 2.5 eV are thought to be due to polarized Au atoms adjacent to an Fe layer.

An oscillation of φK as a function of interlayer thickness, d, was observed in photon energy region between about 2.5 and 3.8 eV for the Fe (6Å) /Au (dÅ) /Fe (6A) sandwiched film. The oscillation period was about 10Å (5ML) of Au. The oscillation is thought to be closely related with a formation of spin polarized quantum well states of Δ1 band in Au layers sandwiched by magnetic layers.

In-Situ Techniques for Studying Epitaxially Grown Layers and Determining their Magnetic Properties

Ultrathin films of bcc Fe (001) on Ag (001) and Fe/Ni (001) bilayers on Ag were grown by molecular beam epitaxy. A wide range of surface science tools (RHEED, REELFS, AES, and XPS) were employed to establish the quality of epitaxial growth. Ferromagnetic resonance and Brillouin light scattering were used to extract the magnetic properties. Emphasis was placed on the study of magnetic anisotropies. Large uniaxial anisotropies with the easy axis perpendicular to the film surface were observed in all ultrathin structures studied. In sufficiently thin samples the saturation magnetization was oriented perpendicular to the film surface in the absence of an applied field. It has been demonstrated that in bcc Fe films the uniaxial perpendicular anisotropy originates at the film interfaces. Fe/Ni bilayers were also investigated. Ni grows in the pure bcc structure for the first 3–6ML and then transforms to a new structure which exhibits unique magnetic properties. Transformed ultrathin bilayers possesses large in-plane 4th order anisotropies far surpassing those observed in bulk Fe and Ni. The large 4th order anisotropies originate in crystallographic defects formed during the Ni lattice transformation.

X-Ray Photoelectron and Auger Electron Forward-Scattering Studies of the Epitaxial Growth of Fe on Ag(100)

A controversy has arisen in the past year over whether or not the growth of Fe on Ag(100) at room temperature occurs by a layer-by-layer mechanism. The present work attempts to address this controversy with an investigation of the issues, primarily by x-ray photoelectron (XPS) and Auger electron forward scattering, but with important supporting data from low-energy electron diffraction (LEED), and reflection high-energy electron diffraction (RHEED) oscillations. The results of this work suggest that the origin of the controversy lies in different substrate preparation techniques which produce different atomic step densities on the Ag(100) surface. The step sites are implicated as being the initiators of major departures from a layer-by-layer growth mode whenever most of the deposited Fe atoms have sufficient mobility to reach these steps. However, even when the Fe atoms cannot reach these steps it appears that atomic place-exchange occurs with ≥25% of the top-layer Ag atoms. Atomic place-exchange mechanisms, which could account for this intermixing, have been observed in recent molecular-dynamics simulations of epitakial growth. Thus it seems probable that under the conditions that appear to produce layer-by-layer growth, the growth begins as layer-by-layer growth of an FeAg alloy, and only becomes layer-by-layer in pure Fe as the segregating Ag atoms gradually get left behind in the growing Fe film.

Magnetic Order and Structure of Ultrathin Films and Multilayers

Ultrathin epitaxial films grown in UHV – Fe(110) on Au(111) and Ag(111), Co(0001) on Au(111) – , sputtered Fe films between Ag and sputtered Fe/Au multilayers were studied by SQUID magnetometry and Mössbauer spectroscopy (CEMS). It could be shown that the magnetic anisotropy relative to the film normal, the, ground state magnetic moment per Fe atom and thermal spin excitations are affected by the structure of the films. In particular, a more 3-dimensional growth mode in the early state of film formation which is observed except in a certain temperature range around 300 K reduces the apparent magnetic interface anisotropy and the ferromagnetic ground state moment, and it enhances the thermal spin fluctuations and the tendency for superparamagnetic relaxation in the thinnest films.

Spin-flop ordering from frustrated ferro- and antiferromagnetic interactions: a combined theoretical and experimental study of a Mn/Fe(100) monolayer

The occurrence of a noncollinear magnetic structure at a Mn monolayer grown epitaxially on Fe(100) is predicted theoretically, using spinor density-functional theory, and observed experimentally, using x-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) and linear dichroism (XMLD) spectroscopies. The combined use of XMCD and XMLD at the Mn-absorption edge allows us to assess the existence of ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic order at the interface, and also to determine the moment orientations with element specificity. The experimental results thus obtained are in excellent agreement with the magnetic structure determined theoretically.

Shear instability of gamma-Fe in bulk and in ultrathin films

Using ab initio local-spin-density calculations we demonstrate that along the Bain path describing the transformation of face-centered-cubic (fcc) gamma-Fe into body-centered-cubic (bcc) alpha-Fe, tetragonal Fe is unstable against monoclinic shear deformations producing a nearly bcc structure. In the limit of a monolayer adsorbed on a fcc substrate, the epitaxial constraint suppresses the shear instability, but in ultrathin films with three to six monolayers a striped pattern of near-bcc domains develops, confirming recent observations by scanning tunneling microscopy. A strong correlation between the shear instability and the magnetic state is reported.

Surface-step-induced double magnetic switching of Fe on vicinal W(100)

Two-level magnetic switching of a bilayer epitaxial Fe film grown on a graded stepped W(100) surface is observed using the magneto-optic Kerr effect. Hysteresis loops produced by the film at a location on the curved W(100) surface corresponding to a vicinal angle of 6.4 degrees exhibit two abrupt jumps in magnetization following spin orientation perpendicular to the steps resulting from surface-step-induced anisotropy. The two-step process can be understood in terms of abrupt depinning of spins in two inequivalent microdomains associated with the stepped surface. The results suggest a new realm of ultrathin film micromagnetics in which characteristic dimensions of 20-30 A can play a dominant role.