What question did this study set out to answer?

This research aims to understand how the thickness of Cu thin films affects their structural properties when grown on FeCo using molecular beam epitaxy.

February 28, 2026Open Access

Initial Growth Process of Cu Thin Films on bcc-FeCo/MgO(100) via Molecular Beam Epitaxy

Puntos clave

This research aims to understand how the thickness of Cu thin films affects their structural properties when grown on FeCo using molecular beam epitaxy.
Examined Cu thin films grown on bcc-FeCo/MgO(100) using molecular beam epitaxy.
Analyzed changes in structure based on varying thickness of Cu layers.
Utilized in-situ characterization, including angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy.
Copper initially adopts a bcc structure influenced by the FeCo substrate.
A phase transition to fcc occurs when the Cu layer exceeds approximately 3 nm.
Films between 3–5 nm show interfacial dislocations and a disordered surface.

Resumen

We investigated the thickness-dependent structural evolution of Cu/FeCo(100) thin films grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). At the initial stage of growth, Cu adopted a body-centered cubic (bcc) structure templated by the underlying FeCo substrate. Once the Cu thickness exceeded approximately 3 nm, a structural transformation into the face-centered cubic (fcc) phase was observed. The MBE-grown films exhibited interfacial dislocations and developed a disordered surface in the thickness range of 3–5 nm. Although metastable ultrathin bcc-Cu films on FeCo(100) grown by MBE are less stable than sputtered multilayers, MBE offers a unique advantage: it enables in-situ advanced characterization such as angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) in the ultrathin regime around 1 nm. This capability is essential for designing high-performance devices and probing interface-driven electronic phenomena.

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