Dresden 2006 – scientific programme

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MA: Magnetismus

MA 8: Surface Magnetism

MA 8.7: Talk

Monday, March 27, 2006, 16:30–16:45, HSZ 103

The influence of step edges and strain on the domain wall width — •Wulf Wulfhekel, Simona Bodea, and Jürgen Kirschner — MPI für Mikrostrukturphysik, Weinberg 2, 06120 Halle

The influence of substrate steps and epitaxial strain on magnetic domain walls in thin Fe films was investigated by means of spin polarized scanning tunneling spectroscopy. Domain walls in a 2 ML film grown on a W(001) substrate were imaged. The domain wall width is reduced when the wall is located at a substrate step edge. This is explained by the atomic arrangement at the step edges and the influence on the ferromagnetic exchange and magnetic anisotropy. Measurements of the width of domain walls in 4 ML Fe films indicate a reduced exchange constant compared to bulk Fe. This is related in parts to the reduced dimensionality and the huge strain of 10% in the Fe films.