Metastable rhombohedral Fe phase formed in Fe/Sb multilayers and its magnetic properties

Fe/Sb multilayer films with various Fe and Sb layer thicknesses were prepar ed by vapor deposition. A metastable rhombohedral Fe phase was formed in th e Fe/Sb multilayered films, when the Fe layer thickness was of 1.7 nm and t he Sb layer thickness was of 10 nm. In an opposite condition, a metastable bcc Sb phase was obtained, when the Fe layer was thicker than 4 nm and the Sb layer was thinner than 2.5 nm. Interestingly, the metastable rhombohedra l Fe exhibited ferromagnetic behavior and its average magnetic moment was a s high as 1.52 mu(B). The magnetic behavior and electronic and magnetic str uctures of the rhombohedral Fe were calculated by the first-principles all- electron linearized augmented plane-wave method (LAPW) within the local spi n-density functional approximation. The difference between the calculation of the Fe magnetic-moment amplitude (3.32 mu(B)) and the experimental deter mination (1.52 mu(B)) was discussed in terms of the presence of dead layers at the Fe/Sb interfaces. [S0163-1829(99)02017-2].