| Issue |
EPL
Volume 88, Number 2, October 2009
|
|
|---|---|---|
| Article Number | 27006 | |
| Number of page(s) | 6 | |
| Section | Condensed Matter: Electronic Structure, Electrical, Magnetic and Optical Properties | |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1209/0295-5075/88/27006 | |
| Published online | 03 November 2009 | |
Discontinuous vs. continuous spin reorientation transition of magnetic films on vicinal surfaces
1
Laboratoire Matériaux et Phénomènes Quantiques (UMR CNRS 7162), Université Paris Diderot 10 rue Alice Domon et Léonie Duquet, 75205 Paris Cedex 13, France, EU
2
Laboratoire de Physique des Solides (UMR CNRS 8502), Université Paris-Sud - 91405 Orsay, France, EU
Corresponding author: vincent.repain@univ-paris-diderot.fr
Received:
12
June
2009
Accepted:
7
October
2009
The Spin Reorientation Transition (SRT) of Co ultrathin films grown on two Au(111) vicinal surfaces with the same step density but different step edge microfacets has been investigated by in situ magneto-optical Kerr effect. A drastic change in the width of the SRT is reported and is explained by the difference, measured by STM, of the anisotropic surface roughness. A general model, taking into account only uniaxial first-order terms in the anisotropy, is able to explain quantitatively the transition from a continuous to a discontinuous SRT as function of the anisotropic surface roughness. This model is generally applicable to magnetic ultrathin films grown on vicinal surfaces.
PACS: 75.70.Ak – Magnetic properties of monolayers and thin films / 68.37.Ef – Scanning tunneling microscopy (including chemistry induced with STM) / 68.55.-a – Thin film structure and morphology
© EPLA, 2009
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