UC Berkeley

Off-stoichiometry, epitaxial FexSi1-x thin films (0.5 < x < 1.0) exhibit D03 or B2 chemical order, even far from stoichiometry. Theoretical calculations show the magnetic moment is strongly enhanced in the fully chemically disordered A2 phase, while both theoretical and experimental results show that the magnetization is nearly the same in the B2 and D03 phases, meaning partial chemical disorder does not influence the magnetism. The dependencies of the magnetic moments are directly and nonlinearly linked to the number of Si atoms, primarily nearest neighbor but also to a lesser extent (up to 10%) next nearest neighbor, surrounding Fe, explaining the similarities between B2 and D03 and the strong enhancement for the A2 structure. The calculated electronic density of states shows many similarities in both structure and spin polarization between the D03 and B2 structures, while the A2 structure exhibits disorder broadening and a reduced spin polarization.