Structural and magnetic studies of fcc Fe films with self-organized lateral modulation on striped Cu(110)–O(2×1) substrates

• Published in: Journal of applied physics 1999-04, Vol.85 (8), p.5285-5287
• Main Authors: Li, Dongqi, Diercks, Verena, Pearson, J., Jiang, J. S., Bader, S. D.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0021-8979; 1089-7550
• DOI: 10.1063/1.370497

Face-centered cubic (fcc) Fe wedges of 0–12 ML were grown by means of molecular beam epitaxy onto a novel substrate: flat Cu(110) with an oxygen-induced, long-range ordered striped phase, and studied in situ with medium energy electron diffraction (MEED) and the surface magneto-optical Kerr effect (SMOKE). In contrast to Fe growth on either clean or oxygen-saturated Cu(110), the films on the striped substrates retain a layer-by-layer growth mode up to 6–7 ML and are fcc at least up to 12 ML. In addition, satellite peaks were observed on both sides of the MEED (0, 0) streak, indicating a long-range-ordered lateral modulation of the Fe surface. We postulate that the Fe films grow conformally onto the original striped substrate. SMOKE studies show that these fcc Fe wedges are ferromagnetic with an easy axis along the original stripes for Fe thickness >4 ML and a remanant magnetization that increases linearly with thickness beyond 4 ML.