Complex magnetic phase in submonolayer Fe stripes on Pt(997)

Authors

• Jan Honolka, Max-Planck-Institut für FestkörperforschungFollow
• T. Y. Lee, Max-Planck-Institut für Festkörperforschung
• K. Kuhnke, Max-Planck-Institut für Festkörperforschung
• D. Repetto, Max-Planck-Institut für Festkörperforschung
• V. Sessi, Max-Planck-Institut für FestkörperforschungFollow
• Peter Wahl, Max-Planck-Institut für FestkörperforschungFollow
• A. Buchsbaum, Technische Universität Wien
• P. Varga, Technische Universität Wien
• S. Gardonio, 3Istituto di Struttura della Materia, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Trieste, Italy
• C. Carbone, Istituto di Struttura della Materia, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Trieste, Italy
• S. R. Krishnakumar, International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP), Trieste, Italy
• P. Gambardella, Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ICREA), Bellaterra, Spain
• M. Komelj, Jožef Stefan Institute, Ljubljana, Slovenia
• R. Singer, Max-Planck-Institut für Metallforschung
• M. Fähnle, Max-Planck-Institut für Metallforschung
• K. Fauth, Max-Planck-Institut für Metallforschung
• G. Schütz, Max-Planck-Institut für Metallforschung
• Axel Enders, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
• K. Kern, École Polytechnique Fédérale de LausanneFollow

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

2009

Comments

Published in PHYSICAL REVIEW B 79, 104430 (2009); DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.79.104430 ©2009 The American Physical Society. Used by permission.

Abstract

Correlations between magnetism and morphology of iron nanostructures of monatomic height on Pt(997) substrates are studied using x-ray magnetic circular dichroism as well as scanning tunneling microscopy and helium scattering. A drastic collapse of the average magnetization by more than a factor of 4 is observed when increasing the iron coverage from 0.1 to 0.2 ML. This effect goes along with a softening of the magnetic anisotropy energy and a gradual reorientation of the magnetic easy axis from in plane to out of plane. The experimental findings together with electronic density-functional calculations suggest the formation of a complex magnetic phase in corrugated rim regions of Fe islands, leading to both ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic exchange couplings of Fe moments depending on their various local bonding configurations.