Growth of antiferromagnetically ordered Cr monolayer on Ag(100)

Two-dimensional antiferromagnetism observed on flat Cr monolayers deposited on Ag(100) has been investigated under various growth conditions. Cr monolayer domains are found to grow within the temperature range of 373-453 K while multilayer growth mode is prevalent at room temperature (RI). In agreement with theoretical predictions, a c(2 x 2) antiferromagnetic configuration is observed on Cr monolayer and is confirmed by the presence of magnetic superstructural spots in Low Energy Electron Diffraction (LEED) and antiferromagnetic Cr 3d bands in Angle-resolved Photoemission Spectroscopy (ARPES) studies. Antiferromagnetism of Cr monolayer film is found to depend strongly on various growth parameters such as growth temperature, annealing temperature, annealing duration, rate of growth etc. and are studied in detail here. The phenomenon of Cr-Ag intermixing at the interface is found to be the main factor for the complex growth of Cr on Ag(100) substrate. Optimum parameters for the growth of large monolayer Cr domains on Ag(100) substrate are presented here. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.