Abstract
Thin epitaxial films of Tb metal were grown on a clean W(110) substrate in ultrahigh vacuum and studied in situ by low-energy electron microscopy. Annealed films present magnetic contrast in spin-polarized low-energy electron microscopy. The energy dependence of the electron reflectivity was determined and a maximum value of its spin asymmetry of about 1% was measured. The magnetization direction of the Tb films is in-plane. Upon raising the temperature, no change in the domain distribution is observed, while the asymmetry in the electron reflectivity decreases when approaching the critical temperature, following a power law with a critical exponent of 0.39.
- Received 2 August 2016
- Revised 31 October 2016
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.94.174445
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