Magnetism of thin Fe films on Cu(100)

Abstract

Magnetic moments have been determined for the fct and bcc structural phases of Fe, stabilized on the (100) surface of Cu, from magnetic-circular-dichroism measurements. For the thin fct films, the spin and orbital moments are greatly increased to 3.4(7)${\mathrm{\ensuremath{\mu}}}_{\mathit{B}}$ and 0.24(5)${\mathrm{\ensuremath{\mu}}}_{\mathit{B}}$, respectively. The larger moments found for the fct films scale with an increased energy shift in the position of the ${L}_{3}$ and ${L}_{2}$ absorption peaks. In addition, insight is gained into the energy governing the perpendicular anisotropy of the fct phase.