Self-organization and magnetic domain microstructure of Fe nanowire arrays

Starting from essentially flat nanometer-thick Fe films, epitaxially grown at room temperature on W(110) surfaces, we used carefully tuned annealing schedules to produce periodic arrays of nanoscale ferromagnetic wires. The structural transition from continuous films to nanowire arrays is accompanied with an in-plane 90 degree rotation of the spontaneous magnetization. Using spin-polarized low-energy electron microscopy to map the local magnetization directions while annealing, we studied the role of the dewetting mechanism on the self-organization and magnetization reorientation processes.