Large wave vector surface spin waves of the nanomartensitic phase in ultrathin iron films on Cu(100)

• Published in: Europhysics letters Vol. 101; no. 1; pp. 17003 - 17008
• Main Authors: Rajeswari, Jayaraman, Ibach, Harald, Schneider, Claus M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: EDP Sciences, IOP Publishing and Società Italiana di Fisica 01-01-2013
• Subjects: 75.30.Ds; 75.70.Tj
• ISSN: 0295-5075; 1286-4854
• DOI: 10.1209/0295-5075/101/17003

It is generally accepted that thin-film magnetism is strongly affected by even small structural modifications. Much less is known about the influence of structure on magnetic excitations, in particular, spin waves. Using electron energy loss spectroscopy we have studied the dispersion of large wave vector surface spin waves of a system for which details of the structure became known only recently, namely ultrathin iron films grown on Cu(100) surfaces. We find the spin wave dispersion to be nearly identical to the dispersion reported for bcc Fe(110) layers grown on W(110). We therefore conclude that the observed spin wave signal stems from the "nanomartensitic" phase of Fe/Cu(100) and that this phase is not merely a surface phase but encompasses the deeper layers.