2005/12/31 by Farid El Gabaly, S. Gallégo, Silvia Gallego +10 · 2 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Magnetic properties of thin films #Physics of Superconductivity and Magnetism #Quantum and electron transport phenomena #cond-mat.mtrl-sci
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevlett.96.147202
published as Phys. Rev. Lett. 96, 147202 (2006) · 5 pages, 4 figures. Presented at the 2005 ECOSS conference in Berlin, and at the 2005 Fall meeting of the MRS. Accepted for publication at Phys. Rev. Lett., after minor changes
arxiv created 2006/04/02 · openalex publication_date 2006/04/11 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
By means of spin-polarized low-energy electron microscopy, we show that the magnetic easy axis of one to three atomic-layer thick cobalt films on Ru(0001) 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. The Curie temperatures of films thicker than one monolayer are well above room temperature. Fully relativistic calculations based on the screened Korringa-Kohn-Rostoker method demonstrate that only for two-monolayer cobalt films does the interplay between strain, surface, and interface effects lead to perpendicular magnetization.