Magnetic anisotropy in ultrathin Fe films on GaAs, ZnSe, and Ge (001) substrates

Journal Article · Mon Jul 28 00:00:00 EDT 2014 · Journal of Applied Physics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4891253· OSTI ID:22308543

Tivakornsasithorn, K.; Liu, X.; Li, X.; Dobrowolska, M.; Furdyna, J. K. ^[1]

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1. Department of Physics, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana 46656 (United States)

We discuss magnetic anisotropy parameters of ferromagnetic body-centered cubic (bcc) Fe films grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) on (001) substrates of face-centered cubic (fcc) GaAs, ZnSe, and Ge. High-quality MBE growth of these metal/semiconductor combinations is made possible by the fortuitous atomic relationship between the bcc Fe and the underlying fcc semiconductor surfaces, resulting in excellent lattice match. Magnetization measurements by superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) indicate that the Fe films grown on (001) GaAs surfaces are characterized by a very strong uniaxial in-plane anisotropy; those grown on (001) Ge surfaces have a fully cubic anisotropy; and Fe films grown on ZnSe represent an intermediate case between the preceding two combinations. Ferromagnetic resonance measurements carried out on these three systems provide a strikingly clear quantitative picture of the anisotropy parameters, in excellent agreement with the SQUID results. Based on these results, we propose that the observed anisotropy of cubic Fe films grown in this way results from the surface reconstruction of the specific semiconductor substrate on which the Fe film is deposited. These results suggest that, by controlling surface reconstruction of the substrate during the MBE growth, one may be able to engineer the magnetic anisotropy in Fe, and possibly also in other MBE-grown ferromagnetic films.

• OSTI ID: 22308543
• Journal Information: Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 116, Issue 4; Other Information: (c) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0021-8979
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
ANISOTROPY
BCC LATTICES
CRYSTAL GROWTH
FCC LATTICES
FERROMAGNETIC RESONANCE
GALLIUM ARSENIDES
GERMANIUM
IRON
MAGNETIZATION
METALS
MOLECULAR BEAM EPITAXY
SEMICONDUCTOR MATERIALS
SQUID DEVICES
SUBSTRATES
SURFACES
THIN FILMS
ZINC SELENIDES