Dresden 2014 – scientific programme

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MA: Fachverband Magnetismus

MA 38: Magnetic Materials II

MA 38.3: Talk

Thursday, April 3, 2014, 10:00–10:15, HSZ 403

Atomic Structure, Magnetic Anisotropy and Magnetization Reversal in Fe films on Pt(997) — Rafael Fradczyk, Hauke Bardenhagen, Kim-Mario Wolf, Stephan Rutsch, Matthias Nuss, and •Kai Fauth — Physikalisches Institut, Universität Würzburg, Am Hubland, D-97074 Würzburg

Vicinal surfaces may serve as templates for the growth of films with nanoscale structural and strain modulation. In magnetic materials this gives rise to various contributions to the magnetic anisotropy energy density.

In the present contribution we revisit [1] the growth of Fe on Pt(997) and the resulting magnetic properties. Under optimized growth conditions, we observe notable structural differences to previous reports from electron diffraction (LEED, LEED-IV). The magnetic easy axis, while still in the surface plane, appears rotated by 90^∘ as a result. Our results suggest that the atomic structure established at the step edges provides the dominant contribution to the magnetocrystalline anisotropy energy density, even above the spin reorientation thickness.

We present and analyze in detail ambient and low temperature saturation magnetization, anisotropy field(s) and magnetization reversal at a Fe film thickness of five atomic layers.

[1] D. Repetto et al., Phys. Rev. B 74, 054408 (2006)