Magnetic anisotropy of ultrathin Fe films grown on vicinal Si (111)
We have investigated magnetic anisotropy of ultrathin Fe films grown on vicinal Si (111) with 4° miscut towards [11-2] direction. Spin reorientation transition (SRT) from out-of-plane to in-plane proceeds in a wider thickness range than on flat substrates. Meanwhile, the easy axis of in-plane uniaxi...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
AIP Publishing LLC
2013-06-01
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| Series: | AIP Advances |
| Online Access: | http://link.aip.org/link/doi/10.1063/1.4809664 |
| Summary: | We have investigated magnetic anisotropy of ultrathin Fe films grown on vicinal Si (111) with 4° miscut towards [11-2] direction. Spin reorientation transition (SRT) from out-of-plane to in-plane proceeds in a wider thickness range than on flat substrates. Meanwhile, the easy axis of in-plane uniaxial magnetic anisotropy varies from [11-2] to [-110] with an intermediate state of approximate four-fold symmetry. The evolution of magnetic anisotropy is attributed to competition of surface magnetic anisotropy, first-order magnetocrystalline anisotropy, and step induced magnetic anisotropy from symmetry breaking and dipolar interactions. |
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| ISSN: | 2158-3226 |