We have monitored the Verwey transition in micrometer-wide,
nanometer-thick
magnetite islands on epitaxial Ru films on Al
2
O
3
(0001) using Raman spectroscopy. The islands have been grown by high-temperature
oxygen-assisted molecular beam epitaxy. Below 100 K and for thicknesses
above 20 nm, the Raman spectra correspond to those observed in bulk
crystals and high-quality thin films for the sub-Verwey magnetite
structure. At room temperature, the width of the cubic phase modes
is similar to the best reported for bulk crystals, indicating a similar
strength of electron–phonon interaction. The evolution of the
Raman spectra upon cooling suggests that for islands thicker than
20 nm, structural changes appear first at temperatures starting at
150 K while the Verwey transition itself takes place at around 115
K. However, islands thinner than 20 nm show very different Raman spectra,
indicating that while a transition takes place, the charge order of
the ultrathin islands differs markedly from their thicker counterparts.