Characterization of Epitaxial Fe on GaAs(110) by Scanning Tunneling Microscopy

Abstract

ABSTRACTIron on GaAs(110) comprises an interesting system not only due to small lattice mismatch, 1.4%, but also because of the magnetic properties of the overlayer. In the present work, scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) was used to investigate bcc Fe films in the 0.1 Å to 20 Å thickness range, grown at 300 K and 450 K substrate temperatures. STM images show Volmer-Weber growth with the formation of 3-D Fe islands 20–30 Å in diameter for 0.1–1 Å deposition at 300 K, increasing to 40–50 Å for thicker films. Iron island sizes at low coverage and thin film roughness at higher coverages both show significant dependence upon growth temperature.