Single crystal Fe films grown on InAs(100) by molecular beam epitaxy

Thin Fe films have been grown on InAs(100) by molecular beam epitaxy, and studied using in situ magneto-optical Kerr effect (MOKE), low energy electron diffraction (LEED), and scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). Despite the large lattice mismatch between Fe and InAs, the growth of Fe on InAs at 175 °C was found to be epitaxial with the orientation relationship Fe(100)〈001〉‖InAs(100)〈001〉, as evidenced by LEED. STM images indicate that growth proceeds via a 3D Volmer–Weber mode. The magnetic hysteresis loops measured using in situ MOKE show a distinct cubic anisotropy with the easy axis along 〈001〉, the easy axis of bulk bcc Fe, which further confirms that well ordered single crystal Fe films have been stabilized on the InAs(100) substrate. Current–voltage measurements in the temperature range of 2.5–304 K show that Fe forms an ohmic contact on InAs. We propose that Fe/InAs is a suitable heterostructure for magnetoelectronic devices as, unlike Fe/GaAs, there is no Schottky barrier to electron transport.