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Imaging Spin Reorientation Transitions in Consecutive Atomic Co layers

Farid El Gabaly·Silvia Gallego·Carmen Munoz·Laszlo Szunyogh·Peter Weinberger·Christof Klein·Andreas K. Schmid·Kevin F. McCarty·Juan de la Figuera
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Abstract

By means of spin-polarized low-energy electron microscopy (SPLEEM) we show that the magnetic easy-axis of one to three atomic-layer thick cobalt films on ruthenium crystals changes its orientation twice during deposition: one-monolayer and three-monolayer thick films are magnetized in-plane, while two-monolayer films are magnetized out-of-plane, with a Curie temperature well above room temperature. Fully-relativistic calculations based on the Screened Korringa-Kohn-Rostoker (SKKR) method demonstrate that only for two-monolayer cobalt films the interplay between strain, surface and interface effects leads to perpendicular magnetization.

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Farid El Gabaly, Silvia Gallego, Carmen Munoz, Laszlo Szunyogh, Peter Weinberger, Christof Klein, Andreas K. Schmid, Kevin F. McCarty, Juan de la Figuera. 2006-04-02. Imaging Spin Reorientation Transitions in Consecutive Atomic Co layers. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.96.147202

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