Grazing incidence x-ray diffraction study of Fe epitaxial ultrathin films (1.5-13 nm) on GaAs (001) reveals an anisotropy of both domain shape and strain, with [110] and [1-10] as the principal directions. It is shown that the observed thickness-dependent strain anisotropy, together with a uniaxial interface term, can provide an unambiguous explanation to the usual in-plane magnetic anisotropy and its thickness dependence observed in this magnetic thin-film system.

International audienceThe electronic band structure and the work function of MgO thin films epitaxially grown on Ag(001) have been investigated using x-ray and ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy for various oxide thicknesses. The deposition of thin MgO films on Ag(001) induces a strong diminution in the metal work function. The p-type Schottky barrier height is constant at 3.85+/-0.10 eV above two MgO monolayers and the experimental value of the ionization potential is 7.15+/-0.15 eV. Our results are well consistent with the description of the Schottky barrier height in terms of the Schottky-Mott model corrected by an MgO-induced polarization effect