Interface magnetism of Fe in p(2×2) K/Fe(110)

Abstract The interaction of alkali metal adsorbates with transition metal surfaces has received much attention for practical and academic reasons. The interface magnetism of Fe in p (2×2) K/Fe(1 1 0) is investigated by using the all-electron full-potential linearized augmented plane wave (FLAPW) method within the local spin density approximation (LSDA). We found that the magnetism of interface Fe is suppressed by the interaction with adsorbed K: the magnetic moment of interface Fe atom ( 2.57 μ B ) is slightly smaller than that of clean Fe(1 1 0) surface ( 2.65 μ B ). The calculated work function ( 3.16 eV ) for p (2×2) K on Fe(1 1 0) is smaller than that of Fe ( 4.31 eV ) while larger than those of the experimental one ( 2.32 eV ) for a perfect single K layer on Fe(1 1 0) and K ( 2.22 eV ). Calculated density of states are presented and discussed in relation with magnetic properties of interface Fe.