Microscopic Origin of Magnetic Anisotropy in Au/Co/Au Probed with X-Ray Magnetic Circular Dichroism

D. Weller; J. Stöhr; R. Nakajima; A. Carl; M. G. Samant; C. Chappert; R. Mégy; P. Beauvillain; P. Veillet; G. A. Held

doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.75.3752

Microscopic Origin of Magnetic Anisotropy in Au/Co/Au Probed with X-Ray Magnetic Circular Dichroism

D. Weller, J. Stöhr, R. Nakajima, A. Carl, M. G. Samant, C. Chappert, R. Mégy, P. Beauvillain, P. Veillet, and G. A. Held

Phys. Rev. Lett. 75, 3752 – Published 13 November 1995

Abstract

High-field, angle-dependent x-ray magnetic circular dichroism measurements on a Au/Co-staircase/Au structure reveal an anisotropy in the dichroism intensities parallel and perpendicular to the film plane. The size of this effect is related to the anisotropies of the spin density within the Wigner-Seitz cell and of the orbital magnetic moment, both increasing with decreasing Co thickness. The orbital moment anisotropy is shown to be the microscopic origin of the magnetocrystalline energy anisotropy.

Received 1 February 1995

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.75.3752

Authors & Affiliations

D. Weller¹, J. Stöhr¹, R. Nakajima², A. Carl^1,*, M. G. Samant¹, C. Chappert³, R. Mégy³, P. Beauvillain³, P. Veillet³, and G. A. Held⁴

¹IBM Research Division, Almaden Research Center, 650 Harry Road, San Jose, California 95120
²Materials Science Department, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305
³Institut d'Electronique Fondamentale, CNRS UA 22, Université Paris Sud, Bâtiment 220, 91405 Orsay, France
⁴IBM Research Division, Thomas J. Watson Research Center, P.O. Box 218, Yorktown Heights, New York 10598