We report on spin-polarized electron reflection experiments on Fe films on Ag(001). Upon reflecting from the Fe film the electron-spin polarization is found to vary in an oscillatory fashion as a function of the Fe thickness. Two different periods are identified. While the long period is related to the occurrence of quantum-size effects in the Fe layer, the short period of one monolayer is attributed to the periodic variations of the film morphology alternating between filled and incompletely filled atomic layers. This shows - because of total angular momentum conservation - that the transfer of spin-angular momentum from the incident electrons to the ferromagnetic film can be extremely sensitive to the morphology and structure of the film.

Date Published: 4 September 2008
PDF: 7 pages
Proc. SPIE 7036, Spintronics, 703606 (4 September 2008); doi: 10.1117/12.797607

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 7036:
Spintronics
Manijeh Razeghi; Henri-Jean M. Drouhin; Jean-Eric Wegrowe, Editor(s)