Epitaxial growth of Fe on GaN(0001): structural and magnetic properties

We report results on growth studies of Fe on GaN, in particular with respect to structural and magnetic properties. The growth of GaN has been carried out by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) and metal organic vapour phase epitaxy (MOVPE) on Si(111) and Al 2 O 3 substrates, respectively. Fe depositions of different thicknesses were performed in ultra high vacuum (UHV) at room temperature using an electron-beam evaporation set-up. X-ray diffraction analysis shows that the iron films are crystalline and indications of a (110) bcc orientation of the film are observed. By means of scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) epitaxial islands of Fe on the GaN(0001) surface, on a scale of 500 x 500 nm 2 , have been observed. The experimentally determined magnetic hysteresis loops, with the magnetic field applied parallel to the sample surface, show a coercive field that decreases as the temperature increases; at 300 K and 50 K we measure a coercive field of 12 G and 36 G, respectively.