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

Published

February 2, 2007

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

Pub Type

Journals

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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 October 8, 2025)