In situ spin-wave Brillouin light scattering for the study of Co surfaces

Abstract We have developed an in situ spin-wave Brillouin light scattering system for the study of surface magnetism of magnetic thin films. The surface uniaxial anisotropy constant is determined for a bare surface of 10 monolayers (ML) of Co(0 0 0 1), indicating the in-plane anisotropy. With only 0.5 ML of Cu deposited on this Co(0 0 0 1) surface, the strong perpendicular anisotropy is immediately induced, which is followed by a weak peak at 1 ML of the Cu.