Photoemission study of the Fe/MnO interface formation

The formation of the Fe/MnO interface at room temperature has been studied for iron coverages in the range 1-8 Å by synchrotron radiation induced photoemission spectroscopy. The valence band and 3p and 3s core levels of both Fe and Mn were recorded after each metal evaporation. At first, strong interaction between iron and the substrate is observed with Fe2+ and Fe3+ oxide formation. By increasing the coverage the diffusion of Fe(O) at the interface seems to take place simultaneously with the growth of an upper metallic Fe layer. © 1993.