Structural and electronic properties of Fe3O4/graphene/Ni(111) junctions

The Fe3O4(111)/graphene/Ni(111) trilayer is proposed to be used as an ideal spin-filtering sandwich where the half-metallic properties of magnetite are used. Thin magnetite layers on graphene/Ni(111) were prepared via successive oxidation of a thin iron layer predeposited on graphene/Ni(111) and the formed system was investigated by means of low-energy electron diffraction and photoelectron spectroscopy. The electronic structure and structural quality of the graphene film sandwiched between two ferromagnetic layers remain unchanged upon magnetite formation as confirmed by experimental data. [GRAPHICS] Preparation of the HMF/graphene/FM junction.