Growth and magnetism of Co films on a Pd monolayer on Cu(001)

Received 24 May 2005; revised manuscript received 29 November 2005; published 25 January 2006We have grown epitaxial Co films on single monolayers ML of Pd on Cu 001 substrates at room tem-perature. The interlayers of Pd were grown by pulsed laser deposition whereas the Co films were prepared bythermal deposition. A layer-by-layer growth mode of Co on the 1 ML Pd/Cu 001 system continues up to atleast 11 ML of Co in contrast to the 4 ML of Co on the Pd 001 substrate. This is due to a reduced latticemismatch for the Co films on the Pd/Cu 001 system in comparison to the Co films on the Pd 001 substrate.On the basis of magneto-optical Kerr rotation data we discuss the effect of the Co-Pd interface contribution tomagnetism and to the magneto-optical response.DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.73.035429 PACS number s : 78.20.Ls, 75.70.Cn, 75.70.Ak