Effect of Spin-Orbit Interaction on a Magnetic Impurity in the Vicinity of a Surface

L. Szunyogh, G. Zaránd, S. Gallego, M. C. Muñoz, and B. L. Györffy
Phys. Rev. Lett. 96, 067204 – Published 14 February 2006

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 d from the surface and decays as 1/d2. Numerical estimates based on simple models suggest that this mechanism, unlike its alternatives, gives rise to an effect of the desired order of magnitude.

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  • Received 18 November 2005

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.96.067204

©2006 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

L. Szunyogh1,2, G. Zaránd1, S. Gallego3, M. C. Muñoz3, and B. L. Györffy2,4

  • 1Department of Theoretical Physics and Center for Applied Mathematics and Computational Physics, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Budafoki út. 8, 1521 Budapest, Hungary
  • 2Center for Computational Materials Science, TU Vienna, Getreidemarkt 9/134, A-1060 Vienna, Austria
  • 3Instituto de Ciencia de Materiales de Madrid, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Cantoblanco, 28049 Madrid, Spain
  • 4H. H. Wills Physics Laboratory, Bristol University, Royal Fort, Tyndall Avenue, Bristol BS8 1TL, United Kingdom

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Issue

Vol. 96, Iss. 6 — 17 February 2006

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