Structural and magnetic properties of Fe-rich FexMn1−x ultrathin alloy films on Cu(1 1 1 7)

Abstract

Fe/Cu(100) films have been extensively studied and complex structural and magnetic properties have been found. Prominent among the properties is the change in the low electron energy diffraction (LEED) pattern at ∼4ML from (5×1) to (2×1) correlated with the ferromagnetism localized in the first 2 monolayers. Below this thickness the films are uniformly magnetized. Fe-rich FexMn1−x ultrathin films on Cu(100) show structural and magnetic properties similar to Fe/Cu(100). We have studied the structural and magnetic properties of FexMn1−x ultrathin films grown on Cu(1117). We have seen that the alloy films are uniformly magnetized over an extended thickness regime. LEED experiments of alloy films on Cu(1117) films have shown a (5×1) pattern up to a thickness of ∼5ML which supports our magnetic measurements. Again we observed a correlations of magnetic and structural properties.