Magnetic moments and anisotropy energies of thin Fe films on Cu(100) (abstract)

The attention that has been focused on the magnetic properties of Fe thin films is due to the presence of several magnetic phases the existence of which may be influenced by the preparation process and subsequent treatment. In particular, Fe grown on the (100) surface of Cu exhibits a crossover from in plane to perpendicular easy magnetization direction as the film thickness decreases below a critical threshold. Here we present an in situ characterization of this system by means of x-ray photoemission and photoabsorption experiments. These two spectroscopies combine to provide a powerful technique for depth profiling the magnetic response as a function of thickness from thin and ultrathin films. In addition photoabsorption measurements in conjunction with magnetic sun rules give access to orbital and spin magnetic moments. We find that for thin fct Fe on Cu(100) the spin moment increases from the bulk bcc value of 2.25 to 3.40 μB. This increase is linked to a relaxation in the interlayer distance and the ...