Magnetism of epitaxial bcc iron on Ag(001) observed by spin-polarized photoemission

Fully spin-polarized Weyl fermions and in/out-of-plane quantum anomalous Hall effects in a two-dimensional d0 ferromagnet

The quantum anomalous Hall effect (QAHE) in intrinsic ferromagnets has attracted considerable attention recently. Previously, studies of the QAHE have mostly focused on the default assumption of out-of-plane magnetization. In fact, the QAHE can also be achieved via in-plane magnetization, but such candidate materials are very scarce. Here, we find that two-dimensional (2D) YN₂ not only possesses the previously reported out-of-plane QAHE, but it also possesses a tunable in-plane QAHE. More importantly, unlike the previously reported in-plane QAHE in d/f-type ferromagnets, here we report the effect in a 2D d⁰ ferromagnet, namely YN₂, for the first time. In the ground state, a YN₂ monolayer has a half-metal band structure, and manifests six pairs of fully spin-polarized Weyl points at the Fermi level. When spin-orbit coupling is included, the YN₂ monolayer can realize multiple topological phases, determined based on the magnetization direction. Under in-plane magnetization, the YN₂ monolayer shows either the Weyl state or in-plane QAHE state. Remarkably, the Chern number (±1) and the propagating direction of QAHE edge channels can be continuously switched via shifting the direction of the in-plane magnetic field. When magnetization is applied out-of-plane, the YN₂ monolayer realizes an out-of-plane QAHE phase with a high Chern number of 3. The nontrivial edge states for all the topological phases in the YN₂ monolayer have been clearly identified. This work suggests that 2D YN₂ is an excellent candidate for investigating in-plane QAHE phases in d⁰ ferromagnets.

Microscopic analysis of the composition driven spin-reorientation transition in Ni(x)Pd(1-x)/Cu(001)

The spin-reorientation transition (SRT) in epitaxial NixPd1-x/Cu(001) is studied by photoemission microscopy utilizing the X-ray magnetic circular dichroism effect at the Ni L2,3 edge. In a composition/thickness wedged geometry, a composition driven SRT could be observed between 37 ML and 60 ML, and 0 and 38% of Pd. Microspectroscopy in combination with azimuthal sample rotation confirms a magnetization preference changing from the [001] to an in-plane easy axis. At this increased thickness, the domain patterns arrange comparable to SRTs in ultrathin films. The images document domains equivalent to a canted state SRT, at which an additional effect of in-plane anisotropies could be identified.

Magnetic Anisotropy in Epitaxial Ni/Cu (100) Thin Films

Epitaxial Ni/Cu (001) films grown on Si (001) by Molecular Beam Epitaxy were studied in-situ using the Surface Magneto-optic Kerr Effect (SMOKE) and ex-situ with a Vibrating Sample Magnetometer (VSM). Perpendicular Magnetization is observed for Ni thicknesses 15 Å ≤ h ≤ 60 Å and fully in-plane magnetization for h ≥ 70 Å when the films are characterized in-situ. The reversal in magnetic anisotropy observed in-situ at 60 Å shifts to 125 Å when the films are exposed to air. 100 Å Ni films deposited on Cu1−x-Nix alloy substrates also show a reversal in magnetic anisotropy as x is changed. These results suggest that changes in magnetic anisotropy correlate with misfit strain accommodation.

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.

Electron-spin motion: a new tool to study ferromagnetic films and surfaces

When electrons are interacting with a ferromagnetic material, their spin-polarization vector is expected to move. This spin motion, comprising an azimuthal precession and a polar rotation about the magnetization direction of the ferromagnet, has been studied in spin-polarized electron scattering experiments both in transmission and reflection geometry. In this review we show that electron-spin motion can be considered as a new tool to study ferromagnetic films and surfaces and we discuss its application to a number of different problems: (a) the transmission of spin-polarized electrons across ferromagnetic films, (b) the influence of spin-dependent gaps in the electronic band structure on the spin motion in reflection geometry, (c) interference experiments with spin-polarized electrons and (d) the influence of lattice relaxations in ferromagnetic films on the spin motion.

Ultimate limit of electron-spin precession upon reflection in ferromagnetic films

We report the discovery of 180° electron-spin precession in spin-polarized electron-reflection experiments on Fe films on Ag(001), the largest possible precession angle in a single electron reflection. Both experiments as a function of Fe film thickness and ab initio calculations show that the appearance of this ultimate spin precession depends with utmost sensitivity on the relaxation of the Fe surface layers during growth. Similar spin precession is also predicted for other ferromagnetic films.

Magnetic Domain Imaging of Epitaxial thin Films by Spin-Polarized Scanning Electron Microscopy

The formation of magnetic domains in thin epitaxial Co/Au(111) films is investigated by spin-polarized scanning electron microscopy. Three-monolayer films are shown to decay into out-of-plane domains of micrometer size. The transition from out-of-plane to in-plane magnetization at a crossover thickness of 4.5 layers is followed by imaging the domains, and the transition is shown to occur as a continuous rotation of the magnetization. The domain size in field-free-grown perpendicular films depends linearly on film thickness. From high-resolution line scans across magnetization reversals we determine the resolution in magnetic imaging to be better than 40 nm.

Long-Range Coherency Strain and Tilted Ipitaxy in Ag-Fe-Ag Sandwich Structures on Gaas(001) Substrates

We find that epitaxial Fe films sandwiched between epitaxial Ag films grown on GaAs (001) substrates possess residual coherency strain at a thickness of 2000Å. The [001] directions of the Fe and Ag films are tilted with respect to the GaAs [001] axis. The tilts are coplanar with the tilt of the substrate surface normal to the [001] axis of GaAs and are qualitatively consistent with a recently proposed modol for tilted epitaxy.

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.