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Metal-oxide [FeK/(MgO)L]N multilayers were grown on MgO(001) substrates for various integer numbers (K,L) of the Fe(001) and MgO(001) monolayers, respectively, and the number of repetitions N varied from 6 to 30. Room-temperature conversion electron Mössbauer spectroscopy (CEMS) measurements proved that the magnetic properties of these monoatomic multilayers were extremely sensitive to both the Fe and MgO sublayer thicknesses. A stable ferromagnetic state and a strong perpendicular magnetization component at room temperature were obtained by changing the sublayer thickness and the number of multilayer repetitions. The analysis of the CEMS spectra in correlation with the magneto-optic Kerr effect measurements indicated a complicated domain structure in this special type of metal-insulator material. The vortexlike domain structure was confirmed by micromagnetic simulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study the magnetic properties of epitaxial double-wedge CoO/Fe bilayers grown on MgO(001). We present a comprehensive set of data derived from the hysteresis loops measured as a function of temperature in a wide range of CoO and Fe thicknesses using Kerr microscopy imaging. We focus on relatively high temperatures and CoO layers with small thicknesses to address the onset of the exchange bias. We identify a characteristic CoO thickness of 30-40 Å, above which the films can be considered bulklike. However, a considerable exchange bias is still observed even for CoO films as thin as 12 Å if the temperature is sufficiently low. From the results of the x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy measurements, we deduce the presence of an interfacial iron oxide layer of mixed stoichiometry and a uniform composition of the CoO layer along the CoO wedge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The structural and magnetic properties of ultrathin FeO(111) films on Pt(111) with thicknesses from 1 to 16 monolayers (MLs) were studied using the nuclear inelastic scattering of synchrotron radiation. A distinct evolution of vibrational characteristics with thickness, revealed in the phonon density of states (PDOS), shows a textbook transition from 2D to 3D lattice dynamics. For the thinnest films of 1 and 2 ML, the low-energy part of the PDOS followed a linear txE dependence in energy that is characteristic for two-dimensional systems. This dependence gradually transforms with thickness to the bulk αE2 relationship. Density-functional theory phonon calculations perfectly reproduced the measured 1-ML PDOS within a simple model of a pseudomorphic FeO/Pt(111) interface. The calculations show that the 2D PDOS character is due to a weak coupling of the FeO film to the Pt(111) substrate. The evolution of the vibrational properties with an increasing thickness is closely related to a transient long-range magnetic order and stabilization of an unusual structural phase. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigated the spin reorientation transition during the growth of Fe(110) films on W(110) at 250 °C using the in situ nuclear resonant scattering of x rays. The measurements as a function of the grazing incidence angle demonstrated that the spin reorientation proceeds via an intermediate, noncollinear magnetic state, and with increasing thickness, the magnetization reorientation from the [11¯0] to the [001] direction is activated at the film surface and completed at the Fe/W interface. Furthermore, as the temperature was decreased from 250 °C to 160 °C, the temperature-driven spin reorientation transition (SRT) between the [001] and [11¯0] directions was observed with a similar noncollinear transient magnetic state. The thickness-temperature SRT phase diagram was schematically drawn. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report on in-plane magnetic anisotropy in epitaxial bcc Co/Fe(110) bilayers on W(110). The magnetic surface anisotropy in the Co/Fe(110) bilayers exhibited a strong nonmonotonic dependence on Co coverage. Magneto-optical studies revealed a sharp maximum of the magnetic surface anisotropy, 2.44mJ/m², at dCo=5Å. This giant interfacial magnetic anisotropy allowed a small fraction of a Co monolayer to reorient the magnetization of the bulk-like Fe film. We conclude that the mono- and double-layer bcc Co(110) exhibited in-plane magnetic anisotropy with a [110] easy axis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An in-plane spin-reorientation transition occurring during the growth of epitaxial Fe films on W(110) was studied in situ by using the nuclear resonant scattering of synchrotron radiation. The spin-reorientation transition originates at the Fe/W(110) interface and proceeds via a noncollinear spin structure resembling a planar domain wall that propagates towards the surface with increasing film thickness.