The stepwise growth of epitaxial Fe on Cu(001)/Si(001), investigated by in situ polarized neutron reflectometry is presented. A sputter deposition system was integrated into the neutron reflectometer AMOR at the Swiss neutron spallation source SINQ, which enables the analysis of the microstructure and magnetic moments during all deposition steps of the Fe layer. We report on the progressive evolution of the accessible parameters describing the microstructure and the magnetic properties of the Fe film, which reproduce known features and extend our knowledge on the behavior of ultrathin iron films.

• Received 11 October 2016

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevApplied.7.054004