Abstract
We propose a new mechanism for surface-induced magnetic anisotropy to explain the thickness dependence of the Kondo resistivity of thin films of dilute magnetic alloys. The surface anisotropy energy, generated by spin-orbit coupling on the magnetic impurity itself, is an oscillating function of the distance from the surface and decays as . Numerical estimates based on simple models suggest that this mechanism, unlike its alternatives, gives rise to an effect of the desired order of magnitude.
- Received 18 November 2005
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.96.067204
©2006 American Physical Society