Magnetic Moment of fcc Fe(111) Ultrathin Films by Ultrafast Deposition on Cu(111)

Thermally deposited ultrathin Fe films on Cu(111) at room temperature or below have been known to grow in a multilayer mode with a low net magnetic moment $\left(\mathrm{\sim }0.5{\mu }_B\right)$. In the present work we have used pulsed laser deposition to produce isotropic $\mathrm{fcc}\mathrm{Fe}/\mathrm{Cu}\left(111\right)$ films which grow layer by layer with a magnetic moment of more than $2{\mu }_B$. We attribute the larger magnetic moment of the pulsed laser deposited films to their structural perfection as seen by low energy electron diffraction and scanning tunneling microscopy.