Misfit-induced modification of structure and magnetism in O/Fe(001)-4p(1 \times 1)
W. Feng, H. L. Meyerheim, K. Mohseni, O. Brovko, V. S. Stepanyuk, N. Jedrecy, R. Felici, and J. Kirschner
Accepted
The geometry of oxygen atoms in hollow sites of Fe nano islands ( 1-2 nm) on Fe(001) is modified by mesoscopic misfit induced relaxations of the island atoms. Surface x-ray diffraction, scanning tunnelling microscopy and ab-initio calculations indicate a 0.3 Å increased adsorption height [0.7 Å versus 0.4 Å in O/Fe(001)-p(1×1)] of O atoms going in parallel with a reduced Fe-Fe layer spacing inducing a reduction of the surface magnetic moment (2.85 mB versus 3.21 mB). Our results demonstrate the importance of the mesoscopic misfit for surface physical properties in general.