Direct observation of a bulklike spin moment at the Fe/GaAs(100)-4x6 interface.
We have used x-ray magnetic circular dichroism, which offers a unique capability to give element specific information at submonolayer sensitivity, to determine the spin and orbital magnetic moments at the Fe/GaAs(100) interface. The wedge samples, grown by molecular beam epitaxy at room temperature, consisted of 0.25-1 monolayer (ML) Fe on GaAs(100)-4x6 capped with 9 ML Co and have shown Fe spin moments of (1.84-1.96)micro(B) and a large orbital enhancement. Our results demonstrate unambiguously that the Fe/GaAs(100)-4x6 interface is ferromagnetic with a bulklike spin moment, which is highly promising for spintronics applications.
Spintronics Laboratory, Department of Electronics, The University of York, York YO10 5DD, United Kingdom.
J S
JS
Claydon
Y B
YB
Xu
M
M
Tselepi
J A C
JA
Bland
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G
van der Laan