Epitaxial growth of Fe on Nb(1 1 0)

The epitaxial growth of Fe on a bcc Nb(1 1 0) buffer has been studied at room temperature and at 550 °C, using reflection high energy electron diffraction and Auger electron spectroscopy. At room temperature, the growth occurs in several steps that have been clearly identified in increasing the Fe deposited thickness: (i) two-dimensional growth of a strained Fe layer (ii) intermixing between Fe and Nb with the formation of an alloy (iii) stabilization of a pure Fe layer. After an annealing process up to 550 °C, another alloy is formed, that exhibits a rectangular surface mesh with twins in the (1 1 0) plane. A single domain alloy, with a similar surface structure, can be also obtained by directly growing Fe on the Nb(1 1 0) buffer maintained at 550 °C.