Structure and magnetism of Fe thin films grown on Rh(001) studied by photoelectron spectroscopy - art. no. 054417

Structural and magnetic properties of Fe thin films grown epitaxially on Rh (001) are studied by spin- and angle-resolved valence-band photoemission, F e 2(P3/2) photoelectron diffraction, and x-ray magnetic circular dichroism experiments. The valence-band structure shows characteristic features of a fcc high-spin state at 4 monolayers (ML) and those of ferromagnetic bulk bc c Fe at 8 ML. The structure of the Fe film reveals fct(001) compressed alon g the direction perpendicular to the surface in the low-coverage region and gradually changes to distorted bcc(110) as the film thickness increases. T he magnetic moments increase as a function of the film thickness and reach the same value as in bulk bcc Fe above 6 ML. The Fe films show in-plane fer romagnetism above 2 ML, and the thickness dependence of the magnetic proper ties is discussed in connection with the characteristic growth mode.