Interface atomic structures and magnetic anisotropy of Fe and Pd/Fe monatomic films on Pd(001)

Ueno Tetsuro

Sawada Masahiro

Furumoto Kazuhito

Tagashira Tetsuro

Tohoda Satoshi

Kimura Akio

Haraguchi Shinya

Tsujikawa Masahito

Oda Tatsuki

Namatame Hirofumi

Taniguchi Masaki

Physical Review B

The magnetic anisotropy of monatomic Fe films on Pd(001) with or without a Pd overlayer was investigated from the standpoint of interface atomic structures. Quantitative analysis included low-energy electron diffraction and x-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) experiments, and first-principles calculations were also performed on monatomic Fe and Pd/Fe systems. It was revealed that Fe atoms intermix with the Pd substrate at room temperature. A spin reorientation transition occurs at a critical Fe thickness of 1.2 monolayers (ML) in Fe/Pd(001), while in-plane magnetic anisotropy is persistent in Pd/Fe/Pd(001) throughout the entire sample. The Fe 3d spin and orbital magnetic moments for both systems are strongly enhanced near 1 ML Fe thickness, as compared to those of the bulk iron crystal. In addition, an induced magnetic moment in interfacial Pd atoms was observed by XMCD at the Pd M2,3 core absorption edges. It was concluded that the L10-like tetragonally distorted interface atomic structure in monatomic Fe/Pd(001) induces the perpendicular magnetic anisotropy.

Physics [ 420 ]

eng

American Physical Society

Copyright (c) 2012 American Physical Society

[ISSN] 1098-0121

[DOI] 10.1103/PhysRevB.85.224406

[NCID] AA11187113

[DOI] http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.85.224406