Magnetic structure of iron clusters and iron crystal surfaces

Electronic and magnetic properties of Fe atoms in a cluster of 89 atoms and at a (0 0 1) iron crystal surface are theoretically investigated within a fully-relativistic framework based on the local density approximation. The depth-profiles of the cluster and of the crystal surface exhibit different behaviour both as concerns the density of states and the spin and orbital magnetic moments. The convergence of local electronic and magnetic properties towards the bulk values is significantly faster for a planar surface than for a free cluster.