Temperature dependent magnetic behaviour of thin Fe(0 0 1) films with 1.5, 2, 2.5 and 3 monolayers

The magnetic properties at finite temperature of thin Fe(0 0 1) films of 1.5, 2, 2.5 and 3 monolayers (ML) are theoretically studied. The spin-polarized electronic structure at a given temperature is determined by solving self-consistently a one-particle d-band model Hamiltonian in the real space, in which correlation effects are included in a temperature-dependent spin-splitting parameter. For the half-integer ML films we obtain several magnetic solutions at T = 0 K, most of which do not exist at finite T. An oscillatory Curie temperature (Tc) as a function of film thickness is found, with larger Tc for the half-integer ML films.