Dimensionality Control and Magnetism of Fe on Nanopatterned Au(111) Surface

Scanning tunneling microscope (STM) is used to explore the room-temperature (RT) growth and multistep growth of Fe on Au(111) herringbone surface. The statistical analysis of island size and arrangement, combined with a phenomenological magnetic anisotropy energy (MAE) model, can describe the previously reported magnetic behavior of Fe two-dimensional (2-D) island array very well. While increasing the Fe coverage, MAE is dominated by edge atoms, surface atoms, and then shape MAE, sequentially. The multistep growth, combing nucleation seeds, Xe buffer layer, and annealing treatment, reveals the possibility for manipulating the Fe growth into desired multilayer islands.