Magnetism of Epitaxial bcc Iron on Ag(001) Observed by Spin-Polarized Photoemission

Abstract

Epitaxial bcc Fe films grown on Ag(001) are ferromagnetic. At $T=30$ K, the 3- to 4-monolayer films are perpendicularly magnetized at remanence, whereas thinner and thicker films have their magnetization in plane. Above $T=100$ K no perpendicular remanence has been observed for any film thickness. Films consisting of more than 5 monolayers have a Curie temperature equal to that of bulk bcc Fe.