title: Magnetic anisotropy of epitaxially grown Co and its alloy thin films.
abstract: We have performed a systematic study on the correlation between magnetic anisotropy energy (MAE) and crystal structures, such as lattice parameters, stacking fault densities, lattice strain, and so on, for epitaxially grown Co, Co-Pt, and Co-Pd alloy thin films, and have found that the MAE strongly depends on the axial ratio c/a of the hcp crystal lattice. As the c/a of hcp Co decreases down to ∼1.61 which is smaller than 1.622 for bulk Co, the MAE becomes significantly enhanced up to ∼10(6) J m(-3). Similar trends have also been verified for hcp Co-Pt and -Pd. These results, which are qualitatively consistent with the classic single-ion anisotropy model and the recent first principles calculation, suggest a new effective way to control the MAE of magnetic thin films.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Anisotropy and Texture of Materials, Northeastern University, Shenyang 110004, People's Republic of China. Department of Materials Science, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, 6-6-02 Aobayama, Sendai 980-8579, Japan.
authors.forename: J-J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sakurai
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Oikawa
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ishida
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kikuchi
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Okamoto
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sato
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shimatsu
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Kitakami