Magnetic anisotropy of 4d-transition-metal monolayers: The role of low-energy valence bands

RICARDO GÓMEZ-ABAL; ANA MARÍA LLOIS

PHYSICAL REVIEW B

AMER PHYSICAL SOC

Lugar: New York; Año: 1999 vol. 60 p. 12841 - 12846

1098-0121

Magnetic anisotropy energy ~MAE! and orbital magnetic moments of 4d-transition-metal monolayers, both free standing and grown on Fe-bcc~001! slabs, are calculated. We find that energy differences due to spin-orbit interaction effects coming from bands lying well below the Fermi level cannot be neglected and, actually, determine the MAE. On the contrary, the breaking of degeneracies near the Fermi level, although important, does not determine the spin orientation. Even if there is some correlation between the spin magnetic moment and the dependence of the MAE on the magnetic coupling with the substrate, we find no direct relationship between the MAE and the z component of the d-electron expectation value of the intra-atomic magnetic dipole.