AVS 52nd International Symposium
    Thin Films Monday Sessions
       Session TF-MoP

Paper TF-MoP19
Fe(001) Thin Films for Novel Applications

Monday, October 31, 2005, 5:00 pm, Room Exhibit Hall C&D

Session: Aspects of Thin Films Poster Session
Presenter: C.A. Meserole, Los Alamos National Laboratory
Authors: C.A. Meserole, Los Alamos National Laboratory
G.L. Fisher, Los Alamos National Laboratory
D.J. Hilton, Los Alamos National Laboratory
R.D. Averitt, Los Alamos National Laboratory
D.J. Funk, Los Alamos National Laboratory
A.J. Taylor, Los Alamos National Laboratory
Correspondent: Click to Email
The electrical and magnetic properties of thin iron (Fe) films have sparked significant scientific interest. Our interests are two-fold. First, Fe(001) films are ideal targets for a newly developed ultrafast x-ray diffraction instrument designed to understand complex behavior, such as melting or solid-solid phase transitions, in shock-loaded materials. The instrument utilizes an intense laser pulse to initiate a shock wave in the sample and x-ray diffraction to study the material's response. This target/instrument combination will allow for directly comparing experimental data to published molecular dynamics simulations of a shock wave propagating along the [001] direction in an Fe crystal. Second, we have discovered a novel application for thin Fe films, which generate picosecond, broadband terahertz frequencies after intense femtosecond pulse excitation by a Titanium:Sapphire laser. The terahertz emission provides a direct measure of the induced ultrafast magnetization change. Film thickness not withstanding, the criteria for samples used in both experiments are identical due to the similarities of the experiments. For example, the substrate must permit the epitaxial growth of continuous single/monocrystalline films, yet must be transparent to a pump laser. Fe(001) films grown on MgO(001) substrates make ideal samples for both experiments. Issues such as generating a specific crystallographic orientation in the Fe film, film growth mode, substrate preparation and surface contamination, are discussed, along with an overview of the applications for these films.