Tunable in-plane spin orientation in Fe/Si (557) film by step-induced competing magnetic anisotropies

Tang Jin¹, He Wei¹, Zhang Yong-Sheng¹, Li Yan¹, Zhang Wei¹, Ahmad Syed Sheraz¹, Zhang Xiang-Qun¹, Cheng Zhao-Hua^{1, 2, †,}

Variations of H_s with NaCl capping layer thickness (d_NaCl) (a) and Cu capping layer thickness (d_Cu) (b) for representative Fe film thickness obtained at room temperature. The solid lines are guided by eye. The inset of panel (b) shows the in-situ longitudinal Kerr loops for 11-ML Fe with and without 1-ML Cu capping layer along the step edge, measured at room temperature.