Abstract
The perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) arising at the interface between ferromagnetic transition metals and metallic oxides was investigated via first-principles calculations. In this work very large values of PMA, up to 3 erg/cm, at FeMgO interfaces are reported, in agreement with recent experiments. The origin of PMA is attributed to overlap between O- and transition metal orbitals hybridized with orbitals with stronger spin-orbit coupling-induced splitting around the Fermi level for perpendicular magnetization orientation. Furthermore, it is shown that the PMA value weakens in the case of over- or underoxidation due to the fact that oxygen and transition metal orbital overlap is strongly affected by disorder, in agreement with experimental observations in magnetic tunnel junctions.
- Received 21 February 2011
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.84.054401
©2011 American Physical Society