Low temperature ͑LT: 100 K͒ deposition of Fe on Si͑111͒7 ϫ 7 surface effectively reduces Fe-silicide formation at the Fe/Si interface, as compared with conventional room temperature ͑RT͒ growth. The interface condition of 5-15 monolayers ͑ML͒ LT-Fe/Si͑111͒ remains stable at least up to 350 K. Si segregation was observed after annealing at 400 K. LT-grown Fe films also reveal a relatively flat surface morphology with a roughness of 0.4-0.6 nm. Thus, LT-Fe films were suggested as an intermediate layer for the subsequent RT-growth of Fe. We use a single domain model of magnetic anisotropy to fit the magnetic coercivity evolution of n ML RT-Fe on 5 ML LT-Fe/Si͑111͒. Accordingly, we deduce the surface and volume-contributed magnetic anisotropy for discussion.

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Co thin films were grown on planar highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (p-HOPG) and Ar þ sputtered HOPG (s-HOPG) for comparison. Measurement of Auger ratio Co/C suggested the more uniform nucleation for Co on s-HOPG. Co/p-HOPG exhibited only in-plane magnetization, whereas Co/s-HOPG revealed the coexistence of in-plane and perpendicular MOKE hysteresis loops, indicating stable canted magnetization. The canted magnetization of Co/s-HOPG, which persisted at least up to 50 ML, could be attributed to volume-contributed perpendicular anisotropy. These observations will be valuable for future applications in the combination of metallic magnetic materials and carbon-based templates. V

In this study, Fe/Mn/Co trilayers were grown on Cu(100) to investigate the combination of exchange-bias coupling and long-range interlayer coupling. The crystalline structures of fct-Co and fct-Mn were confirmed by low energy electron diffraction (LEED) and I/V-LEED. The magnetic hysteresis loops were measured by magneto-optical Kerr effect as a function of Fe and Mn thickness. When the fct-Mn was increased to 24 ML, the Co and Fe layers underwent incoherent two-step magnetization switching with a special feature. The interlayer coupling preferred coherent rotation of Fe and Co, but the exchange bias coupling of Mn/Co increased the coercivity of the Co layer, prohibiting rotation simultaneous with the Fe layer. As a result, during the Fe flipping, the Co layer first rotated in accordance with the Fe layer and then turned back to the initial orientation. Our simulation also demonstrated a similar phenomenon when the exchange bias coupling and interlayer coupling were of comparable magnitude.

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