Chemical ordering of epitaxial FePd deposited on ZnSe and the surfactant effect of segregated Se

We describe the experimental conditions under which a thin film (500 Angstr om thick) of the ferromagnetic alloy FePd can be grown epitaxially onto a t hin (100 nm thick) ZnSe(001) layer on a GaAs(001) substrate. A two-dimensio nal growth could be achieved by using a Pt seeding layer inserted between F ePd and ZnSe. During the growth of the metallic layers, the segregation of Se atoms at the surface involves a dramatic effect on the formation of the uniaxial L1(0) FePd ordered phase. As a result, no perpendicular magnetic a nisotropy was observed. The removal of the Se atoms from the Pt surface by a gentle ion bombardment, enables the growth of a FePd layer exhibiting a l arge anisotropy constant of about 1.2x10(7) erg/cm(3) along the growth dire ction with a marked perpendicular magnetic domain configuration. (C) 2000 A merican Institute of Physics. [S0003-6951(00)01911-2].