Asymmetry of the spin reorientation transition in ultrathin Fe films and wedges grown on Ag(100)

Abstract

Fe(100) films and wedge-shaped overlayers were grown epitaxially onto Ag(100) and investigated in situ by means of the surface magneto-optic Kerr effect. The reversible spin reorientation transition between perpendicular and in-plane alignment at ${\mathit{T}}_{\mathit{R}}$, which is below the Curie temperature ${\mathit{T}}_{\mathit{C}}$, is characterized for critical thicknesses ${\mathit{d}}_{\mathit{R}}$ along the length of a wedge. A similar asymmetry is identified within pseudogap regions in the vicinity of both ${\mathit{T}}_{\mathit{R}}$ and ${\mathit{d}}_{\mathit{R}}$ in which the remanent magnetization is small but nonvanishing.