Uniaxial magnetic anisotropy of quasi-one-dimensional Fe chains on Pb/Si: A Monte Carlo simulation

Magnetic behaviors of Fe nanowires grown on 4° miscut Si(111) substrate with Pb buffer layers have been investigated by means of Monte Carlo method. A simple model is constructed, in which the Fe chains are assumed to be assemblies of single domain Fe nanoclusters with magnetostatic energy and exchange coupling energy. The coverage dependence of the magnetic ordering temperature TC of the system is discussed. By accurately calculating the magnetostatic energy of the Fe chains, the simulated results are in agreement with the experimental ones measured by in situ surface magneto-optical Kerr effect. In addition to the magnetostatic energy, the exchange coupling between the overlapping islands is also responsible for the ferromagnetic ordering of high coverage Fe chains at room temperature. Our model was able to predict the essential features of the system.