SURFACE MAGNETISM OF THE CLEAN Ni (111) SURFACE AND OF A Ni MONOLAYER ON Cu (111)

Results of highly precise all-electron local spin density FLAPW calculations on (i) a close-packed 7-layer Ni (111) slab and (ii) a p (1 x 1) Ni monolayer on Cu (111) are presented. For Ni (111), we find an enhancement of the magnetic moment for both the surface (to 0.63 µB) and sub-surface Ni layers (from a center layer value of 0.58 µB). In contrast, a slight decrease of the magnetic hyperfine field at the surface is obtained. Although the magnetism is suppressed for monolayer-Ni/Cu (111) due to sp (Cu) -d (Ni)interactions, we find that the Ni overlayer is not magnetically "dead" but has a sizable but reduced moment of 0.34 µB/atom