| AVS 54th International Symposium | |
| Magnetic Interfaces and Nanostructures | Wednesday Sessions |
| Session MI-WeA |
| Session: | Nanomagnetic Imaging and Spectroscopy |
| Presenter: | B. An, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Japan |
| Authors: | B. An, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Japan S. Fukuyama, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Japan K. Yokogawa, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Japan |
| Correspondent: | Click to Email |
Recently, the ultrathin Fe films on fcc substrates have attracted a great attention because of its novel magnetic properties, and thus the growth of ultrathin Fe films on Ni(111) has also been investigated by many surface techniques. However, the structures of the Fe films grown on Ni(111) have not yet been characterized in real space. In this study, we characterize the surface structures of ultrathin Fe films grown on Ni(111) at room temperature by LEED and STM. The Fe film grows first at the step edges of the Ni(111) substrate, then grows up on the large terraces of Ni(111) and the Fe films on Ni(111). The first monolayer Fe reveals two-dimensional fcc-Fe(111) on Ni(111). Some equilateral triangular lines consisting of dark spots aligned along the <1-10> direction with a spacing of 0.5 nm are observed on the monolayer Fe and interpreted by the creation of atomic vacancies in the first layer of Ni substrate due to the strain caused by the lattice misfit between the Fe monolayer and the Ni substrate. The second layer Fe reveals a striped structure consisting of parallel stripes running in the <11-2> direction with a spacing of approximately 1.7 nm. Such striped structure is attributed to the stacking fault of the second-layer Fe on the first-layer Fe. Further increasing of Fe films leads to the formation of slender islands running along the <1-10> direction. The growth processes of the ultrathin Fe films are discussed.