We present experimental results on the growth and structure of Fe overlayer
s deposited on Cu84Al16(100) and discuss the correlation between the struct
ural and magnetic properties of this system. Fe films 1-6 monolayers (ML) t
hick were grown under molecular beam epitaxy conditions onto the clean subs
trate at 160 K. Electron diffraction was applied to investigate the structu
re of the Fe films. The magnetic properties were investigated in situ by su
rface magneto-optical Kerr effect in the longitudinal geometry. Our results
show that the onset of in-plane ferromagnetism around 3.5 ML of Fe coincid
es with structural changes that suggest a transformation within the Fe film
s from a fcc-like (100) to a bcc-like (110) structure with increasing Fe th
ickness, starting from 2.5 ML. (C) 2001 American Institute of Physics.