Spin-wave excitation in ultrathin Co and Fe films on Cu(001) by spin-polarized electron energy loss spectroscopy (invited)

Abstract

We demonstrate, that spin-polarized electron energy loss spectroscopy is a unique tool to determine spin-wave dispersion curves of ultrathin films and surfaces over the whole Brillouin zone. For ultrathin Co films on Cu(001) the excitation of a spin wave appears as a well defined peak in the loss spectrum. 3 ML Fe films on 1 ML Co/Cu(001) films show spin-wave excitation peaks as well though much broader compared to the Co case. The spin-wave energy at the surface zone boundary of about 140 meV for the Fe film is nearly a factor of 2 smaller than that of the Co films.