Surface structures of magnetostrictive D0<sub>3</sub>-Fe<sub>3</sub>Ga(001)

ORAL

Abstract

First-principles total energy calculations and STM experiments were performed to study the surface reconstruction on the magnetostrictive Fe3Ga alloy. The inverse magnetostrictive behavior was evaluated in the bulk by varying its lattice parameter. Surface analysis demonstrates two thermodynamically stable surfaces, the ideal FeGa-terminated 1×1 and the Ga-substituted 3×1. The latter forms row-like surface structures. Tersoff–Hamann STM simulations were obtained and found excellent agreement with the experiment, in which the distance between rows is ~12.3 Å. Analysis of the magnetic moments in the reconstructions showed that their behavior is affected by a surface effect, as well as by the inverse magnetostriction of the structure.

*We thank DGAPA-UNAM projects IN101019 and IA100920 and CONACYT grants A1-S-9070 for financial support. Experimental part of this research supported by the US Department of Energy, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Division of Materials Sciences and Engineering under Award No. DE-FG02-06ER46317. Calculations were performed in the DGTIC-UNAM supercomputing center project LANCAD-UNAM-DGTIC-368. We thank E. Murillo, and A. Rodriguez Guerrero for technical assistance and useful discussions. Image analysis was performed by Gwyddion software package.

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Presenters

  • Ricardo Ruvalcaba

    • National Autonomous University of Mexico Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology

Authors

  • Ricardo Ruvalcaba

    • National Autonomous University of Mexico Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology

  • Joseph Perry Corbett

    • Department of Physics, Ohio State University

  • Andrada-Oana Mandru

    • Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology

  • Noboru Takeuchi

    • Centro de Nanociencias y Nanotecnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
    • Center of Nanoscience and Nanotechology, National Autonomous University of Mexico
    • National Autonomous University of Mexico Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology
    • Centro de Nanociencias y Nanotecnologia, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico
    • Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
    • National Autonomous University of Mexico

  • Arthur Smith

    • Ohio University
    • Department of Physics and Astronomy, Ohio University
    • Nanoscale and Quantum Phenomena Institute, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Ohio University

  • Jonathan Guerrero Sanchez

    • Centro de Nanociencias y Nanotecnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
    • Center of Nanoscience and Nanotechology, National Autonomous University of Mexico
    • National Autonomous University of Mexico Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology
    • Centro de Nanociencias y Nanotecnologia, UNAM
    • Centro de Nanociencias y Nanotecnologia, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico
    • Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
    • UNAM - CCMC
    • Center for Nanosciences and Nanotechnology National Autonomous University of Mexico