Thermal stability of epitaxial Fe films grown on Si substrates by molecular beam epitaxy

Epitaxial Fe films are grown on Si(0 0 1) and Si(1 1 1) substrates by molecular beam epitaxy at room temperature. Several samples of one Fe/Si structure are subjected to rapid thermal annealing from 100 to 500 °C. The annealing impact on the morphological, magnetic properties and interfacial heterostructures of these samples is examined by atomic force microscopy, vibrating sample magnetometer and transmission electron microscopy, respectively. The results demonstrate that the material system Fe/Si grown at room temperature exhibits an abrupt interface and is thermally stable up to a temperature of 150 °C.