Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Structure, spin-dynamics, and magnetic properties of annealed nanoscaled Fe layers on GaAs

Published

Author(s)

Justin Shaw, Charles M. Falco

Abstract

We performed a detailed study of the effect of annealing (at temperatures up to 300°C) on 0.2-3.0 nm thick epitaxial Fe layers deposited on GaAs(001). Using Brillouin light scattering, we studied the magnetic properties and spin dynamics of these layers and find a strong correlation between magnetic properties and the structure and chemical properties, as measured with electron diffraction, scanning tunneling microscopy, and x-ray photoemission spectroscopy. We found that significant changes in crystallinity and microstructure occur with annealing. Specifically, annealing of the thinnest layers results in the formation of a discontinuous magnetic layer with increased crystal order. At slightly larger thicknesses, faceted pits form in the Fe layer. This change in structure results in an earlier transition to a ferromagnetic phase, the creation of an additional higher frequency spin-wave mode, and a reduction in the magnetic uniaxial anisotropy constant.
Citation
Journal of Applied Physics
Volume
101

Keywords

epitaxy, magnetic, spin-dynamics

Citation

Shaw, J. and Falco, C. (2007), Structure, spin-dynamics, and magnetic properties of annealed nanoscaled Fe layers on GaAs, Journal of Applied Physics, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=32408 (Accessed March 28, 2024)
Created February 1, 2007, Updated October 12, 2021