Work

Structural and magnetic properties of the Fe$$_{3}$$O$$_{4}$$ (110) surface

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: We have studied the (110) surface of Fe[Formula: see text]O[Formula: see text] single crystals by means of X-ray Photoemission Electron Microscopy (PEEM) and Low-Energy Electron Microscopy (LEEM) to characterize its structural and magnetic properties. After sputtering and annealing a well defined surface was achieved. This preparation method resulted in a one-dimensional reconstruction formed by rows aligned in the [001] direction. By acquiring X-ray magnetic circular dichroism PEEM images at various azimuthal angles, the vector magnetization map of the (110) surface was obtained. Domains were observed with their magnetization aligned along the two [Formula: see text] type bulk easy axes which are in the (110) surface plane, featuring 180[Formula: see text], 109[Formula: see text], and 71[Formula: see text] domain walls. The domain walls are of Néel type. Using the sum rules we estimated an iron spin and orbital magnetic moment of 3.4 [Formula: see text] and 0.6 [Formula: see text] respectively for the reconstructed surface. At the oxygen K edge we observe dichroic contrast of close to 1%, which is reversed relative of the contrast detected from octahedral iron in the L[Formula: see text] edge.

Source: Scientific Reports

DOI: 10.1038/s41598-025-94599-6